Los Angeles, Ca
Taggers graffiti 27 stories of skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles
Taggers have graffitied what appears to be more than 25 stories of a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper that’s been sitting dormant for several years.
Construction on Oceanwide Plaza, a $1 billion mixed-use retail and luxury apartments project with three towering unfinished structures, stalled in January 2019 after the Beijing-based developer lacked the funds to complete it, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It is unclear exactly how those responsible for the graffiti covering much of the building’s exterior gained entry to the site, or when they began their daring and illegal project.
One witness, Daron Burgundy, said the taggers had been blasting the building with spray paint for the last three nights.
“I could see people up on the balcony were tagging and everything,” Burgundy, who is a street photographer, told KTLA’s John Fenoglio. “Last night there was a crew on one of the floors and people were coming out and getting detained by LAPD and getting cited and released. People were still in there tagging while the cops were down here.”
Video posted to the Citizen App on Jan. 30 just before midnight shows what appears to be a person on the balcony of one of the buildings working on the graffiti.
Aerial footage of the buildings captured by Sky5 shows phrases like, “set the pace” and “amen” spray painted on the outside, as well as other tags like, “SINKOE,” “XN28,” “ROSEK” and “AMI.”
Burgundy said that he’s surprised it’s taken this long for taggers to hit the buildings because the construction site has been vacant for years, adding that he heard people were coming from out of state to tag the structures.
“Last night I heard that people have been coming from out of state to paint here,” he said. “LAPD mentioned that there might be an Instagram post floating around and apparently it was inviting people to come. It’s been wild to watch. It’s kind of interesting. It’s not so luxury around here anymore.”
So far, the Los Angeles Police Department has not announced any arrests in connection with the graffiti or trespassing on the construction site.
LAPD’s Central Division, however, did say that personnel had met with a representative of Council District 14, which is run by Kevin de León, to discuss securing the sprawling development and adding additional security measures.
“The measures will be implemented immediately and the graffiti will be removed,” LAPD said on X, formerly Twitter.
KTLA has reached out to Councilmember de León’s office about what those security measures might entail and whether there is an estimate on the cost of removing some 27 stories of graffiti from the construction site and is waiting to hear back.
Los Angeles, Ca
Hospital needs help identifying man found unconscious in downtown Los Angeles
A hospital needs help identifying a male patient who was found injured and unconscious in downtown Los Angeles.
The man is believed to be in his 30s, according to the Los Angeles General Medical Center.
He was found injured on the ground on Omar Street and has been hospitalized since June 22.
He stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 176 pounds. He has brown eyes, dark brown hair and tattoos across his upper body.
He did not have any personal belongings to help staff identify him or contact loved ones. Workers did not disclose the nature of his injuries.
Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call clinical social worker Cesar Robles at 323-409-6885.
The public can also call the L.A. General Medical Center’s Department of Social Work at 323-409-5253 or, after hours from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., call 323-409-6883. On weekends, call 323-409-5254.
Los Angeles, Ca
Clue may identify SUV in Long Beach hit-and-run that left woman injured
Police are asking the public for help Wednesday in identifying a hit-and-run driver who left a woman badly injured in Long Beach late last month. The May 24 crash occurred around 11 p.m. as the victim was crossing East 2nd Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Video provided by police showed a dark-colored […]
Los Angeles, Ca
‘What’s going on with our society?’ Elderly L.A. street vendor violently beaten
WARNING: Video footage contains graphic violence
A 62-year-old street vendor is recovering after a brutally violent attack by another woman in broad daylight as bystanders in downtown Los Angeles looked on.
The attack happened around 4 p.m. on June 15 in the 700 block of Figueroa Street, where Arabelia Martinez has sold hot dogs for years to support herself and her family.
Video of the incident, which has since circulated widely online, appears to show a woman confronting Martinez at her stand before spraying sauce across the vendor’s cart. Martinez responds by throwing what appears to be Tajín seasoning in the woman’s direction, and the confrontation quickly escalates.
The difficult-to-watch footage shows Martinez being shoved to the ground and struck multiple times as people look on. Some can be seen attempting to intervene, but the assault continues for roughly a minute before coming to an end.
“I was speechless,” Martinez’s son, Constantino Garcia, said after watching the video. “I couldn’t even see the whole thing.”
According to Garcia, the suspect approached his mother before the attack and attempted to intimidate her into giving her money.
“The lady came up to my mom trying to intimidate her and extort her for money, telling her she needed a permit to sell, which my mom does have,” Garcia told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
When Martinez refused, Garcia claims the woman became verbally abusive.
“After she didn’t get her way and tried to extort my mom, she said, ‘Go back to Mexico,’ and made some racist remarks,” he said. “She said some disgusting things to my mom.”
Garcia said his mother continues to suffer lingering effects from the attack.
“She keeps complaining about her head,” he said. “We need to go see a head specialist because her head doesn’t stop hurting. As you could see in the video, she got slammed to the ground.”
The video has also sparked outrage over the response from some witnesses who were nearby during the assault.
“What’s going on with our society?” Garcia said. “Are we getting desensitized to an elderly woman being beaten in broad daylight and being surrounded by people doing the bare minimum to help her? That was horrible for me to watch.”
Witness Sebastian Gutierrez said he arrived moments after the confrontation and saw Garcia’s attacker causing additional chaos in the area.
“The lady began to flip over the tables of vendors,” Gutierrez said, describing the woman as possibly unstable. “It definitely seemed like there were mental health issues or drugs involved, like we see with a lot of things here in downtown L.A.,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a battery investigation into the incident KTLA confirmed, though no suspect information or news of a potential arrest has been released.
Meanwhile, Martinez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with her recovery and raise awareness about the dangers street vendors face daily.
“I hope that my mom gets justice for what happened to her,” Garcia said. He added that he’s been encouraged by the public response to the video.
“I’m grateful people are sympathizing with my mom,” he said. “People are giving it the attention it deserves.”
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