Workers at several Los Angeles recycling centers were arrested by police as part of an ongoing crackdown targeting metal thieves that have run amok across the city.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian joined officials from the Los Angeles Police Department to announce arrests made at three recyclers in his council district.
The recycling centers are located in North Hollywood, one of the areas hit hardest by metal thieves, according to Krekorian.
The high price of copper and other materials has led to criminals stripping metal from streetlights and traffic signals, cutting communication lines on railroad tracks and shearing fire hydrants to cash in. Officials say decorative plaques and even cemetery headstones have been targeted by thieves.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting received more than 11,000 calls about broken street lights during the first three months of this year alone.
Some neighborhoods have been left in the dark for weeks, transit and traffic systems have ground to a halt, and repairs have proven costly and time-consuming many of the same areas have fallen victim to repeated thefts.
Krekorian, the City Council and the LAPD established a task force to try and mitigate the damage done by thieves, tracking down those cutting the wires themselves while also putting pressure on those who are paying for the scrap.
Recyclers have strict laws that regulate what they can and cannot accept, and they have long been finger-pointed as a key cog in the illegal recycling industry.
While most recycling centers follow the local, state and federal laws regarding what they can purchase from the public, the stolen metal black market has continued to explode in recent years in step with the price of scrap metal.
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Photos shared by L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian show hundreds of pounds of stolen metal that were recovered from three recycling centers in North Hollywood in August 2024. -
Photos shared by L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian show hundreds of pounds of stolen metal that were recovered from three recycling centers in North Hollywood in August 2024.
In separate operations that took place at recycling centers in North Hollywood over the past two weekends, police recovered more than 1,600 pounds of stolen copper wire, hundreds of pounds of stolen aluminum cable and backup batteries for roadway safety systems.
The metal material belonged to multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Street Lighting, Caltrans and Southern California Edison.
Officials did not immediately announce how many arrests were made, but said the stolen material was found at the following North Hollywood recycling centers:
- C&S Metals; 6850 Farmdale Ave.
- Cash 4 Scrap Recycling; 7330 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
- Cash 4 Scrap Recycling; 7054 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Krekorian said in a news release that more arrests were expected to be announced in the future.
“These thefts may net individual thieves a handful of dollars while costing the public tens of millions to repair,” the news release states. “Many locations are attacked repeatedly, multiplying the cost to the public. The ultimate cost in public safety of darkened streets and malfunctioning traffic signals is incalculable.”
To report broken street lights within Los Angeles city limits, visit the Bureau of Street Lighting website. If you suspect or witness metal thefts, you are encouraged to contact local law enforcement.