The Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday announced the arrest of two suspects in Mission Hills and the recovery of $50,000 worth of copper wire.
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The arrests comes the very same day the Los Angeles City Council gave its final approval to a proposed ordinance that would create a Metal and Wire Theft Reward program to fight rampant copper wire theft in the city.
The two suspects were identified as 53-year-old Concepcion Vasquez and 51-year-old Jose Garcia Avila. Both men were booked into the LAPD's Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of grand theft.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's Mission Station were alerted around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to a "grand theft in progress" in the 15000 block of Germain Street, near San Jose Elementary School just west of Woodman Avenue.
"The person reporting observed multiple suspects cutting copper wire from an electrical pole and called the police," according to an LAPD statement. "Upon arrival, the officers observed four suspects at the location with large pieces of copper wire and metal cutting tools on the ground."
Three of the four suspects ignored commands to surrender and fled on foot, with one of them quickly caught and a second located as backup arrived, police said.
The investigation into the theft continues and additional arrests are expected, according to the LAPD. Anyone with information about the case was urged to call Mission Station detectives at 818-838-9810.
The tipster who called police thwarting Tuesday's theft may be the very type of concerned citizen city officials hope the new ordinance will encourage and reward.
In an 11-2 vote, council members approved the ordinance, which now heads to Mayor Karen Bass for her consideration. The ordinance aims to offer rewards for information involving theft of city plaques, tombstones, statues, light standards, and copper wire, and theft of metals linked to the Sixth Street Bridge, which has gone dark.
The city would offer a $5,000 reward for felony grand theft, and $1,000 for misdemeanor theft.
"Copper wire and other metal theft isn't pretty -- it's organized crime that darkens our streets, cuts the internet to homes and schools, and robs us of our history when they steal statues and historic markers," Park said in a previous statement. "Our citywide reward program takes these thieves head-on so we can keep lights on, kids connected and taxpayers protected," she added.
In 2024, as a result of brazen copper wire theft on the Sixth Street Bridge, elected officials and the Los Angeles Police Department created the Heavy Metal Task Force to crack down on metal theft in the downtown areas, and later in some neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley.
According to a report from the City Attorney's Office, the LAPD believes that the adoption of the reward program will assist in the identification, apprehension and conviction, or final adjudication, of persons who commit acts of metal and wire theft.
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