At a community police forum on Tuesday night, Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rachel Johnson spoke about the notorious $1 million cash theft that had heads spinning last week.

"I got a million questions about this one," quipped Johnson as she read through a list of questions received from audience members.

Johnson continued: "Did that really happen? Yes, yes it did. It really happened. There's not a lot to report in terms of the circumstances of the crime. Even though we talk about things that occur in the city, we don't like to talk about details - we don't want to do anything that might identify our victim or make more people become victims of that crime. But what we do want to do is talk about the idea of having large amounts of cash or other valuables with you.

"There are some people who are in businesses where they carry large amounts of cash all the time. That's just the nature of their business, whether they are jewelers or whether they are in the pawn business [or other businesses]; they have access to large amounts of cash or large amounts of valuable items on an ongoing basis, and that's just how they roll; that's just the nature of their business. So if you are one of those people, or if you know those people, or if you want to be friends with those people because they have a million bucks, just remind them and remind yourself, even if you aren't carrying around a million dollars, that what you have in your car when your car's not with you can be very vulnerable. Even if you are very discreet, and if you don't have a bag marked 'One Million Dollars' on the side, people sometimes will break into cars just because they see something that appears to be valuable. It might be your gym bag that has your clothes from your spin class this morning in it, but it looks nice and might have something valuable in it, so a person's going to break into your car and see what you have. 

"One of the things we talk about a lot is, secure your valuables, put them out of sight, and if you're going to be without your car, take your valuables out of the car. While a million bucks is an eye-popping number, for sure, we often have thefts of smaller, but large amounts of cash - $15,000 or $20,000 - because people will go to the bank and withdraw cash for whatever reason. Maybe your contractor gives you a discount if you pay him in cash, and so you go to the bank and get some cash. Then sometimes what happens is that person will go home, and leave that cash in the glove box or in the console, and then it is 'liberated' from their car. So anytime you have any sort of items of value in your car, you should take them with you when you secure your vehicle. 

"To answer the question, yes, it did occur, and we are working on leads for that. But the bottom line is, if you have something of value - even if it's only of value to you - you should take it out of your car when you're not in it."

The million-dollar theft, as reported by MB News last week, was reported to police on September 13. Officers responded to American Martyrs School regarding a vehicle burglary in which the victim had parked their vehicle along the curb in front of the gym off 15th Street, went into the gym with their child, and returned back to their vehicle only to discover that the rear passenger side window was shattered.

According to the victim, a cardboard box containing approximately $1 million dollars was stolen. Officers and the victim then discovered a device appearing to be a GPS affixed to the vehicle.

MBPD detectives continue to work the case, and are asking anyone with information to call Detective Ajdukovic at 310-802-5133.