Thieves leave Los Angeles train tracks covered in thousands of empty boxes of looted containers
A section of the tracks of the Union Pacific train in downtown Los Angeles has been covered in thousands of shredded boxes, packages stolen from cargo containers They stop in the area to unload.
The thieves have been raiding cargo containers, taking packages that belong to people across the country from retailers like Amazon, REI and others.
The waste that remains, such as COVID home test kits, are items that thieves either did not want or did not believe were valuable enough to steal.
Sources told CBSLA that the locks Union Pacific uses are easy to cut, and Los Angeles Police Department officials said they don't respond to reports of a train robbery unless prompted by Union Pacific. helps, which they said is unusual.
While CBSLA was on the scene with cameras, a person was seen running with a container that is used to hold smaller packages, and a Union Pacific officer was seen chasing two other people who appeared to be rummaging packages.
CBSLA also obtained a video of University of Southern California campus police arresting an alleged thief last month.
According to officers, the suspect's bag was full of stolen items taken from the train tracks.
A source with knowledge of the matter told CBSLA that Union Pacific cleared this area of footprints three months ago and again only about 30 days ago, although the area is already littered with new discarded boxes.
Another video shows Union Pacific teams cleaning up the area on December 11.
Around the same time, someone took a photo of boxes collapsing from the back of a train car.
CBSLA found a package and entered the tracking number information, which it returned as "in transit," saying it would arrive today.
When CBSLA called the person named in the transaction and asked if he had recently shipped a package to Amazon, he said:
"Yes, I mean, I sent several things back."
Another Amazon package had the name and number of a woman in Washington.
CBSLA called her and asked if she had recently returned any Amazon purchases and if she knew if the package had reached its destination.
“Yeah, I don't even know what was in that box. I buy so much on Amazon and ship so much that I wouldn't even know what it is, ”he replied.
In a statement to CBSLA, Union Pacific said:
“Union Pacific is very concerned about the increase in cargo thefts in California, and we have taken several steps to address this criminal activity.
“These railroad crimes pose a serious threat to the safety of the public, our employees and local law enforcement officials.
“We have increased the number of Union Pacific Special Patrol officers and used additional scouting agents and technologies to help us combat this criminal activity. We will also continue to work with our local law enforcement partners and elected leaders. ” However, law enforcement agencies working on these leads told CBSLA that they don't see the thieves arrested anytime soon.
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