Two men suspected of spray-painting an abandoned high-rise building about one block from Crypto.com Arena were arrested, police announced Friday.
Los Angeles Police Department officers from the Central Division responded to a vandalism call Tuesday in the 1200 block of South Figueroa Street, between Pico and Olympic boulevards, after a tactical flight officer with the Air Support Division saw over a dozen suspects in the building, trespassing and possibly spray-painting on the building, according to the LAPD.
Additional patrol officers arrived and arrested two suspects, Victor Daniel Ramirez, 35, and Roberto Perez, 25, for trespassing. Both were later released, police said. The other suspects ran away before police arrived.
On Thursday, officers responded to a call for vandalism at 12:52 p.m at the abandoned luxury skyscraper in the Oceanwide Plaza development that is under construction in the area of 11th and Flower streets and were told by on- site security a group of suspects had been spray-painting on the 30th floor of the building and had since drove away. The officers found the vehicle and ordered the suspects to stop, but they ignored police and drove away, the LAPD said. Police finally stopped the vehicle a short distance away and cited the driver for failing to yield to an officer. The vehicle's passenger was questioned and released.
Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León, whose 14th District includes the buildings struck by taggers, is expected to introduce a motion at Friday's council meeting directing city departments to address the defaced downtown skyscraper where graffiti covers approximately 25 stories.
Construction of the Oceanwide Plaza development, a mixed-use retail and luxury apartments project valued at $1 billion consisting of three partially completed high-rise buildings, was stopped in January 2019 due to insufficient funds on the part of the Beijing-based developer, preventing its completion, an aide to de León said.
Central Division detectives are investigating these cases. Anyone with information about them was asked to call Central Area Burglary Detective Lee at 213-833-3750. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 877-527-3247. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or go to www.lacrimestoppers.org.
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