Suspected L.A. copper wire thief goes into a manhole and refuses to come out
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
An attempted theft of copper wire on Tuesday led to a predawn barricade situation — inside a city manhole — authorities said.A thief in Chatsworth tried to evade law enforcement by hiding in the manhole for nearly four hours, a police official said.At 1:44 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the 20400 block of West Germain Street, a residential neighborhood that’s adjacent to Mason Park, after receiving a call of a possible wire theft in progress.The alleged thieves were targeting an underground vault owned by AT&T through a manhole, ABC7 News reported.
The Times did not receive a comment from the telecommunications company before publication.Manholes can provide access to underground electric utility and telecommunications cables and wires.
These access points are typically used for adding or repairing cables.When officers arrived, they detained one suspect immediately, but the second suspect was inside the manhole and refused to come out, barricading himself, said Officer Tony Im, a spokesperson for the Police Department.
Im did not clarify how — or with what — the suspect barricaded himself.The official response grew as the Los Angeles Fire Department was called in to assist.
“We were standing by if the person turned out to be a patient or if they were having a medical issue,” said Lyndsey Lantz, public service officer for the Fire Department.As the suspect refused to budge, officers tried various tactics to extract him.
First they tried using a K9 to coax the individual out, Im said.When the dog didn’t motivate the person out of the manhole, officers deployed tear gas.
The suspect emerged and was arrested.An AT&T team was at the site after the incident as the company launched its own investigation, ABC7 News reported.It’s unclear if any copper wire was removed from the manhole.
This is the second theft involving copper wire an...