As the city of Los Angeles tries to stem widespread copper wire and metal thefts, authorities arrested three alleged thieves and cited eight metal recyclers in the San Fernando Valley, officials announced Tuesday.
After sending letters to metal dealers across the city eight months ago, warning them of the consequences of purchasing stolen metals in violation of AB 2321, which requires metal recyclers and junkyards in California to keep track of their sales and alert authorities about stolen metal parts and materials, the metal theft task force with the Los Angeles Police Department began regular enforcements and inspections to find those failing to follow the regulations to “make a quick buck.”
In one incident, a suspected thief ripped away metal parts from a Caltrans property, causing a $150,000 loss in the city, LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said.
“These are felony crimes. Some of these individuals have been arrested for felony crimes with a huge dollar loss to governmental agencies. A huge dollar loss,” Hamilton said, saying authorities have been monitoring people who turn in metals that are either clearly marked or invisibly marked as the properties of the city and the state.
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“The metal recyclers know that the items that are marked, especially governmental, are with, for instance, AT&T or Spectrum. They know it's not an employee that's turning that stuff in. It's not someone associated with those companies,” Hamilton explained. “They know what their responsibilities are under the agreement they have for conducting business in the city of Los Angeles.”
The deputy chief added the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office will pursue civil actions against incompliant metal deals.
The LAPD task force has recovered over 1,600 pounds of copper wire with a street value of $40,000 within the last two months, Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian said.
“The consequences to the taxpayers of Los Angeles are far, far greater than that. And the cost of repairs to replace that copper wire are estimated to be over a half million dollars already,” Krekorian explained, pledging tougher action against metal deals that fail to comply with the rules.
“We're coming after you. And you better get used to the idea of having LAPD knocking on your door. You better get used to the idea of having handcuffs on your wrists. And you better get used to the idea of our taking civil actions against businesses that compete unfairly with legitimate businesses because we will not only be pursuing civil remedies, we will seek to shut your business down.”
