Los Angeles, Ca
82 arrested, 2K pounds of copper wire seized by LAPD's Heavy Metal Task Force
In a massive downtown raid, members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Heavy Metal Task Force arrested 82 people and seized 2,000 pounds of stolen copper wire, city leaders announced Tuesday.
Formed earlier this year, the Heavy Metal Task Force, which includes members of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting, have been working to combat the sharp increase of copper wire thefts and scrap metal crimes, especially in areas like downtown L.A., Boyle Heights, El Sereno and Lincoln Heights.
“The city of Los Angeles is no longer your ATM machine,” Councilman Kevin de León said at a Tuesday press conference.
De León and Councilwoman Traci Parks worked to form the task force after many streets in their district, including the recently renovated 6th Street Bridge, went dark as a result of copper thieves.
“Wire theft is not a victimless crime,” Parks said at the presser.
According to officials, the city has spent tens of millions of dollars on repairing damage caused by these thieves, many of whom use handsaws to tear through the metal panels housing the copper wire.
In January, De León said that in his district alone, some 3,700 streetlights were out.
The problem, officials say, is not simply the cost of repairs, but that leaving neighborhoods and parks in the dark is a threat to the public.
“It impacts the most vulnerable communities in the city of L.A., Black and brown neighborhoods,” he said Tuesday. “It impacts youth at parks, senior citizens, singles mothers at parks who get out of town by sundown because they’re in fear for their life when they have to walk home.”
L.A. is not alone in dealing with these types of crimes. In Pasadena, officials are working to make it harder for crooks to access these metals, which are often inside unique and historic architecture throughout the city.
The city’s streetlights are a major target for thieves.
“Some of these currents are up to 3,000 volts, which could be lethal,” Pasadena Public Works Commissioner Garrett Crawford told KTLA. “They leave a dangerous condition out in the public right of way, and we need a remedy right away.”
Pasadena is even offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of these metal thieves.
“We’ve all had enough,” Parks said. “We’re cracking down and people will, in fact, be held accountable for their conduct.”
No information about the identities of those arrested was provided.
Los Angeles, Ca
Anaheim police officers shot and kill robbery suspect
Police in Anaheim shot and killed a man that they say was suspected of robbery on Friday night.
The officers were called to a reported robbery at about 8 p.m. in the 1200 block of E. South Street, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
After arriving to the scene, four officers were involved in a shooting with the suspect, a man police said was about 30 years old.
He was struck by gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene; he has yet to be publicly identified as of early Saturday morning.
Police said a realistic-looking replica gun was found at the scene. No additional details about the shooting were immediately made available.
The California Department of Justice, among other agencies, will investigate the incident.
Los Angeles, Ca
Playful pod of orcas reappear off Orange County coastline
In a rare return to the Southern California coast, a beloved family of orcas made a few star appearances for whale watchers on Friday.
Lucky viewers got to witness a visit from a mother killer whale and three of her offspring around 9 a.m. off Laguna Beach and then again in the afternoon in Newport Beach, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching.
A company representative said this particular pod of orcas is well known among California whale-watching enthusiasts as the CA51 pod is “a family of orcas with a reputation for their playful nature interacting with boats.”
Footage from Friday’s sightings shows Star, the mother, who is about 40 years old, her two sons Orion and Bumper – Bumper is purportedly known for his 6-foot tall dorsal fin and playful behavior around boats – and Star’s daughter, Comet.
These killer whales were last seen on Dec. 15 about 17 miles off the Orange County coast, according to Davey’s Locker Whale Watching, but, before then, the CA51 pod hadn’t been seen locally in around six years.
Experts said the members of this family are also referred to as ‘transient’ orcas, meaning they cover a large range between southeast Alaska to the Mexico border.
“Lucky passengers aboard our whale watching boats were thrilled to see this family of orcas again today, as they used to be one of the most frequently-sighted killer whale pods in Southern California between 2012-2018, but now, we don’t encounter them much at all,” said a company representative in a release.
Although a clear reason for their change of routine is not yet known, experts said the pod’s diet leads them to wherever seals and sea lions are plentiful.
Los Angeles, Ca
3 seriously injured in fiery sports car crash in Angeles Forest
Three people were transported to a Los Angeles County hospital with major injuries Friday morning after they were involved in a fiery crash on the Angeles Forest Highway.
The crash happened before 11 a.m. and involved at least two vehicles, one of which was a Maserati sports car.
First responders found the Maserati crashed on the side of the road with flames engulfing the vehicle. Firefighters were able to knock down the fire around 11:15 a.m. to rescue the injured patients.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, three people were transported from the scene, including one person in critical condition.
Video from Sky 5 showed the scorched car on the side of the roadway where it apparently hit the hillside. A second vehicle with major damage, a Toyota van, was being loaded onto a flatbed, with California Highway Patrol officials stating that the vehicle was driven by an innocent bystander traveling in the opposite direction of the Maserati.
A third vehicle, which appeared to be a Porsche, was parked near the side of the road not far from the scene of the crash.
Authorities are investigating the possibility that the Maserati and the Porsche were street racing in the moments leading up to the violent crash.
The crash remains under investigation and the roadway was closed to through-traffic for over an hour as crews cleaned debris from the scene. By 12:20 p.m., all lanes of the roadway were reopened to traffic, according to the CHP incident log.
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