Casing the Jewel Store

"Well, mapping the options and showing you all the angles, that's my area of professional expertise. But making decisions, that is your domain, my friend."

- Lester Crest

Casing the Jewel Store is a mission in Grand Theft Auto V, given to Michael De Santa by Lester Crest.

Mission
Michael meets Lester at his garment factory, before the duo drive to the Vangelico Jewellery Store. Once on location, Lester instructs him to walk in and use a pair of camera-glasses to take pictures of the displays, ventilation and alarm system.

Afterwards, the player must drive around the block and go upstairs to the roof via a building in renovation in order to scout for the store's ventilation sources.

Back at the garment factory, Lester sets up a planning board and offers two ways to execute the heist to Michael :

Choosing the loud approach will unlock the following setup mission:
 * Carbine Rifles

Choosing the smart approach will unlock the following setup missions :
 * Bugstars Equipment
 * BZ Gas Grenades

Crew
The following characters are available to complete Michael, Lester and Franklin's crew.

Driver

 * Eddie Toh - If chosen, he'll give directions and bring dirt bikes, making it easier to drive in the tunnels. In the Loud approach, he'll manage to get all the jewelry.
 * Karim Denz - If chosen, he won't give directions while escaping and will have to stop inside the tunnels to get his bearings (only if Norm was chosen and fell off his bike), and the street bikes he provides will handle poorly in the mud. Also, in the Loud approach, he'll miss some of the jewelry.

Gunman

 * Gustavo Mota - If chosen, he won't drop any diamonds in the Smart approach and won't crash his bike. However he'll competently keep the customers in check if the Loud approach is taken, thus if you took Karim as the driver, he won't get all the jewelry leaving you with $4.5M.
 * Packie McReary* - If chosen, he won't drop any diamonds in the Smart approach and won't crash his bike. He'll also competently keep the customers in check if the Loud approach is taken.
 * Norm Richards - If chosen, he misses a lot of diamonds during the heist bringing down your maximum take to about $4.5M in the Smart approach and in the Loud approach, one of the hostages tries to escape and Michael is forced to deal with them, also, with either approach, he crashes his bike in the tunnels, dropping his bag and adding casualty expenses. It is however possible for Franklin to grab his bag while riding over it.

Hacker

 * Paige Harris - If chosen, the player will have 90 seconds to grab the jewels.
 * Christian Feltz - If chosen, the player will have 60 seconds to grab the jewels.
 * Rickie Lukens** - If chosen, the player will only have 30 seconds to grab all the jewels.

* The player must first complete the character's stranger task. ** Only if Michael receives his call after the mission "Friend Request".

For maximum cash, the best choice is Karim Denz for the driver, Rickie Lukens for the hacker, and Packie McReary for the gunman, rewarding Michael with well over $1.2M.

For efficiency use Eddie Toh for the driver, Paige Harris as the hacker and Patrick McReary as the gunman. The smart approach works best as the quickest it can be done is in 46 seconds, but loud usually takes a minimum of 49 seconds.

Choosing Norm Richards for the gunman, even if you collect his bag after his crash, is still a worse choice because he adds casualty expenses and misses a lot of diamonds during the actual heist, meaning even if you smash all cases you still get only about $4.5M (the maximum take is $4,946,153)

Also if you choose loud, the gunman will have to keep all the hostages down and the driver will collect the jewelry with Michael instead, if Karim is the driver, he won't get all of the jewelry leaving you with $4.5M.

Mission Objectives

 * Go to Vangelico Jewel Store.
 * Take a picture of the alarm system.
 * Take a picture of the ventilation outlet and the security camera.
 * Speak with the attendant.
 * Go back to Lester.
 * Find a way to climb the jewelry.
 * Go to the highest point of the building.
 * Take a picture of the ventilation system.
 * Go back to Lester.
 * Return to Darnell Bros..
 * Choose the heist method.
 * Choose your crew.

Gold Medal Objectives

 * Time - Complete within 08:00.
 * Skip the cutscenes.
 * Picture Perfect - Capture all three security features in one picture.
 * Look directly at the keypad and all three features will be visible in the corners.

Trivia

 * At the beginning of the mission, Michael says that they need a crew, stating that he could "round up some of the old guys." Lester tells him "there are no old guys". Lester then mentions "that crew from the south" (a possible reference to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), an Eastern European guy who was "making moves in Liberty City" but subsequently "went quiet" (a reference to Niko Bellic). Lester also tells Michael that "all those crazy Irish guys disappeared" (a possible reference to the McReary Crime Family) and that he's been "working with someone, but they're too unpredictable".
 * When Michael and Lester discuss Michael's old crew, Michael indirectly mentions Trevor, asking Lester where he ended up, with Lester replying, "North. South. East. West. Wherever there were liquor stores to turn over and hitchhikers to disappear.", referring to Trevor's tendency to deliver hitchhikers to the Altruist Cult against their will. Michael also indirectly mentions Brad, asking Lester where they buried him, to which Lester replies, "They buried him? Not as far as I know".
 * Despite telling Michael he has no idea where Trevor is, or if he's even alive, Lester was in contact with Trevor to set up the Series A Heist. Its possible that Lester was only telling Michael this to make him feel better, since Lester would not know Michael and Trevor would meet up again.
 * If Michael is not wearing a suit and the player tries to start the mission, Lester will turn him away and tell him to change into "something nice". The player can then explore the factory's interior.
 * When Michael enters his car after taking all of the pictures, the song playing on the radio will be from Los Santos Rock Radio.
 * If this mission is replayed, Lester will not be wearing glasses.
 * The building being renovated is a Max Renda retail shop.
 * There's a bug in the PC version which when you drive to Rockford Plaza tunnel during on the way to Lester garment factory ,Michael car suddenly will go to blue hell, respawn and fall to blue hell again , and then teleported back to Rockford Plaza tunnel.

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Casing the Jewel Store