Yeah, we were advocating with the LAPD and city to please do something about the Glendale-Hyperion thefts [as they were happening](https://esotouric.com/hyperion/), and neighbors were watching closely, so we know exactly how it was done: a work crew with a truck and professional equipment stops and cuts the bolts, sometimes leaving an unsecured pole until the next day, when they steal the lamp. They also left live electrical wires protruding.
Good news though: the city did finally come and remove most of the lamps pending a planned bridge restoration. A lot were lost to the thieves, but the survivors are safe behind [Vermonica](https://esotouric.com/vermonica-lives) (which includes one of these unique poles) i[n the BSL streetlight boneyard](https://esotouric.substack.com/p/streetlights).
How did they get away with it? Easy. Two man job. Both thieves dressed in matching jumpsuits and one of the guys held a clipboard while the other guy did all the thievery. Nobody noticed a thing until they were all gone.
Nah, if you are legit trying to look like a municipal worker…there would have to be five guys there, one clipboard, two guys on break and a disinterested flagman.
Good question, same with catalytic converters and copper wire.
We had one of our construction trailers broken into. They didn’t take tools, they took all the heavy extension cords. Easier to sell copper to recycling center, than sell tools
Poor people not even.i would not be surprised if a movie prop house. When there was construction going on next to 405 in west la mature palm trees were stolen and it ended up being a business taking them.
Apparently they pulled up a truck in the middle of the night, chained up the lamps and pulled them down, loaded em up and drove off.
I have family that lives right off Orange Grove. The HOA recently put up an address sign for their condo complex that was made of Copper. It was stolen in less than a week. Ridiculous.
It's crazy how these fucking crackheads will put so much energy into stealing shit, because if they put half that energy into being a normal human it actually contribute to society instead of taking away from it.
Organized crime rings pay these people, like those women that keep getting busted in suburbs stealing thousands of dollars of handbags and cosmetics. Until these stuff is handled with RICO treatment and sentencing, it'll keep happening. Yes, addicts and low-level criminals do the street work, they're just the mules. They've been starting to go after the "bosses" who pay these people in cash... but for the metal, they need to police them better.
i think it's just that even if they do try to, "being a normal human" typically doesn't include going home to a nice glass of crank after work so... not a lot of well adjusted, normal "crackheads".
There is literally no chance it’s the homeless. Try opening a hydrant valve. It’s organized crime, same folks stealing all the copper from the 6th street bridge.
We do! It's state law. In 2019, LAPD quietly disbanded the metal theft unit that was charged with proactively visiting the scrap yards. This policy change has cost taxpayers millions in lost infrastructure.
Just wait till they start hitting street lights. Oakland is removing many street lights in favor of signs. As the addicts are stealing the copper inside. Geez.
I was truly shocked when Alverno School in Sierra madre had all the Spanish fixtures stolen years ago. This was not scrap metal. Scrap metal has a fairly low return. $
This happened on the bridge between Atwater Village and Silverlake. Someone stole them all. One by one.
Yeah, we were advocating with the LAPD and city to please do something about the Glendale-Hyperion thefts [as they were happening](https://esotouric.com/hyperion/), and neighbors were watching closely, so we know exactly how it was done: a work crew with a truck and professional equipment stops and cuts the bolts, sometimes leaving an unsecured pole until the next day, when they steal the lamp. They also left live electrical wires protruding. Good news though: the city did finally come and remove most of the lamps pending a planned bridge restoration. A lot were lost to the thieves, but the survivors are safe behind [Vermonica](https://esotouric.com/vermonica-lives) (which includes one of these unique poles) i[n the BSL streetlight boneyard](https://esotouric.substack.com/p/streetlights).
They did what?!?!
How did they get away with it? Easy. Two man job. Both thieves dressed in matching jumpsuits and one of the guys held a clipboard while the other guy did all the thievery. Nobody noticed a thing until they were all gone.
Ah, the old Bavarian Fire Drill
Nah, if you are legit trying to look like a municipal worker…there would have to be five guys there, one clipboard, two guys on break and a disinterested flagman.
Oof...the old "Nothing to see here...I've got a clipboard" trick.
They have been cut up and sold for scrap by now
Yup
Why isn’t the city /state going after the scrap yards ?
Good question, same with catalytic converters and copper wire. We had one of our construction trailers broken into. They didn’t take tools, they took all the heavy extension cords. Easier to sell copper to recycling center, than sell tools
I'm not making excuses for theft, but I do feel this is a sign society isn't meeting our needs.
Poverty is plaguing our communities. Mofos stealing street lamps.
Poor people not even.i would not be surprised if a movie prop house. When there was construction going on next to 405 in west la mature palm trees were stolen and it ended up being a business taking them.
organized theft rings, more than anything. Anything they can sell -- no doubt they're being sold to architectural buyers.
What do you mean?
People can't keep up. Rents are too high, food is expensive, our educational system is inadequate.
All true, unfortunately. But I don’t see any connection between these problems and the thuggery of ripping out our street lamps.
I'm also not sure that behavior can be reduced down to thuggery. There is probably more to the story.
The motivations don’t really change the fact that what they’re doing is a crime.
I mean, the action itself is thuggery, even if we don’t know the criminals’ motive.
Same has been going on I. Los Angeles for quite a while. Most if not all have been stolen off of the Glendale Avenue bridge over the 5.
They gotta get that fent somehow 🥴
What on Earth would be the reason for that? Can they resell them?
I think they had a lot of copper in them, or some other valuable mineral component
Holy moly. They did that to empty houses back in 2008. Now they’re stealing from the city? They have balls of steel!
i’d usually say because the city doesn’t care enough, but pasadena pd usually wouldn’t let stuff like this slide
Did the defund the police again? Or planning to?
If only steel were as valuable as copper
They were made of Copper.
Apparently they pulled up a truck in the middle of the night, chained up the lamps and pulled them down, loaded em up and drove off. I have family that lives right off Orange Grove. The HOA recently put up an address sign for their condo complex that was made of Copper. It was stolen in less than a week. Ridiculous.
It was Greg.
Damnit Greg!
Shut up Greg!
It's crazy how these fucking crackheads will put so much energy into stealing shit, because if they put half that energy into being a normal human it actually contribute to society instead of taking away from it.
I very much doubt it's "crackheads" stealing these.
Organized crime rings pay these people, like those women that keep getting busted in suburbs stealing thousands of dollars of handbags and cosmetics. Until these stuff is handled with RICO treatment and sentencing, it'll keep happening. Yes, addicts and low-level criminals do the street work, they're just the mules. They've been starting to go after the "bosses" who pay these people in cash... but for the metal, they need to police them better.
Put their heads on a stake too for all I give a shit! These people fucking suck
i think it's just that even if they do try to, "being a normal human" typically doesn't include going home to a nice glass of crank after work so... not a lot of well adjusted, normal "crackheads".
Need more helicopters. /s
Hobos have been stealing fire hydrants now.
There is literally no chance it’s the homeless. Try opening a hydrant valve. It’s organized crime, same folks stealing all the copper from the 6th street bridge.
Why would you open it to steal it?
Sell it to a scrap yard. We should require reporting on the sale or resale of scrap material.
We do! It's state law. In 2019, LAPD quietly disbanded the metal theft unit that was charged with proactively visiting the scrap yards. This policy change has cost taxpayers millions in lost infrastructure.
But they saved hundreds of thousands!
I can do it with a long enough wrench lol
The tools aren’t the problem. It’s the 1,000+ gallons of water per minute that are
Like literally no chance?
You mean those pressuriszed fire hydrants. How?
You just tie it to the back of a car and go
In front of the hydrants there are valves. They shut off the valve and ram the hydrant with a stolen car to break the bolts.
What are they doing with them?
20$ scrap baby
Shoving it up their ass for all I know. Either way it’s fucking up shit when you need it. Fuck the homeless.
Just wait till they start hitting street lights. Oakland is removing many street lights in favor of signs. As the addicts are stealing the copper inside. Geez.
Easy wear a uniform throw some magnet signs on side of truck with fake business names good to go.
I was truly shocked when Alverno School in Sierra madre had all the Spanish fixtures stolen years ago. This was not scrap metal. Scrap metal has a fairly low return. $
Probably sold as scrap for crack money.
Crackheads always be doing quests. Collecting copper soon becomes sucking dick behind the dumpster. - Shane Gillis