Repeat copper thefts have left Los Angeles’s $600 million “Ribbon of Light” bridge in the dark for months. At least $2.5 million in repairs will be required to fix the damage from the theft of several miles of copper wire on the bridge estimated to have fetched $11,000 on the black market.
The Sixth Street Viaduct, opened in 2022, has been the subject of scrutiny, first for its “bike lane built for a car crash,” then for its rampant “street takeovers” in which hundreds of individuals block off the bridge, shoot off fireworks, and drift cars in circles, and now for having seven miles of copper wiring steadily stripped away by criminals looking for quick cash.
“They’re waiting for us to repair them,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de Leon to ABC 7. “They want us to repair them because every light post to them is an ATM machine. It’s pure cash. When we go and repair, what do they do? They go and they steal again.”
Earlier this year, de Leon and Councilmember Tracy Park launched a copper wire theft task force and funded a public reward for providing information on copper wire thefts that have spread wild in the city and cost $17 million in repairs; in their motion for the task force, the councilmembers “The city, quite literally, is being stripped for parts.”
Infrastructure thefts aren’t limited to just copper wiring — thieves are stealing fire hydrants and even entire lamp poles for scrap metal, threatening public safety and millions of dollars in taxpayer investments.
Efforts focus on “hardening” infrastructure to make thieves look for earlier targets, or even switching to solar-powered lights to reduce copper wire use.
Others wonder why the city isn’t instead focusing on reducing theft.
“I will always favor criminal justice reform, but reform does not mean we let crime run wild,” said Alex Gruenenfelder, a local progressive activist and author who attended the bridge’s opening and has since witnessed the bridge’s decline. “The 6th Street Bridge reopened with such fanfare, only to see street takedowns lead to shutdowns, with copper wire theft only the latest crime to drag it down. We need to enforce the laws on the books.”
Many blame the city’s rising crime, which included a 17.6% year-over-year increase in robberies in the first half of this year, on Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s prosecution policies. Gascon has accumulated as many as 15,000 unfiled cases, leading to concerns that unprosecuted criminals in the zero-bail county are continuing to commit new crimes.
