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Police Suspect 'Inside Job' In $4.8M Gold Heist From Mass.-Bound Armored Truck

The crew of a truck carrying a load of gold bars had just pulled off the interstate in North Carolina when a seemingly ordinary episode of carsickness turned into a multimillion dollar heist.

As soon as the guards stopped on the shoulder, three robbers drove up in a cargo van and confronted them at gunpoint, yelling "Policia!" and ordering the crew to lie on the ground. The robbers tied their hands behind their backs and marched them into nearby woods, authorities said.

The thieves then set out orange traffic cones while they gathered up 275 pounds of gold bars worth $4.8 million and fled, leaving the two guards stranded along Interstate 95, desperate for help.

On Wednesday, authorities released search warrants filed the day after the heist in which detectives write that they suspected the robbery "could be an inside job."

"The fact that the truck was robbed immediately upon pulling over at an unannounced stop is suspicious in and of itself," the warrant states, adding that the truck had no external markings indicating the cargo. The warrant said the suspects tried to steal the truck but could not get it started, indicating they did not know how to operate a commercial truck.

At a news conference, Wilson County Sheriff Calvin Woodard said the guards were still considered victims, not suspects, but that all possibilities were being investigated.

Asked to elaborate on the warrants, the sheriff said they were written in a hurry before the victims, who spoke little English, could be thoroughly interviewed in Spanish.

The strange scene unfolded around dusk Sunday in a rural area about 50 miles east of Raleigh.

Earlier in the day, the guards had stopped for gas in Dillon, South Carolina, near the North Carolina line. As they kept driving, one of them started to feel sick and said he smelled gas, Woodard said.

However, after deputies arrived, a mechanic found no problems with the truck, according to the sheriff.

The guards got out of the tractor-trailer without their guns, according to the sheriff, who said it was a company security violation to leave the truck without their weapons.

Woodard said that the robbers cut a padlock, but there were no other security measures to stop them.

When the robbers were gone, the guards drew the attention of startled motorists, several of whom called 911 to report seeing uniformed men running into the highway with their hands bound, motioning for help.

"They've got their hands zip-tied behind their backs, and they're out in the road to try to flag people down to call the police," one caller said.

The caller described the scene to the dispatcher and waited in his car for at least 12 minutes for officers to arrive, according to recordings released by Wilson County authorities.

The man told the dispatcher he did not feel safe leaving his vehicle. One of the guards can be heard trying to relate details though his window.

The heist happened hours after the truck left Miami for a town south of Boston.

Neither guard was injured, according to their employer, Transvalue Inc. of Miami, which specializes in transporting cash, precious metals, gems and jewelry. A Transvalue spokeswoman declined to comment.

The company has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

This article was originally published on March 04, 2015.

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