A downtown Los Angeles luxury high-rise building was tagged by a team of vandals. Four people have since been arrested.
LOS ANGELES – A small group of young adults continues to be holed up inside the now “Graffiti Towers” in downtown Los Angeles.
As many as eight people broke into the abandoned buildings, near Crypto.com Arena, late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. So far, two have been arrested. Authorities believe more are still inside the now fenced-off property.
“We have about 18 officers around it, hoping that if they come out, we can arrest the people inside,” said LAPD Captain Raul Joeel.
For almost a month, the graffiti towers have drawn in people from around the world. Some have been using the empty space as a canvas to spray paint. Others jumped and paraglided from the top for social media clicks. Police have already spent more than 3,000 combined hours working overtime providing 24/7 security around the property.
Touring the downtown LA graffiti tower
The clock is ticking for the Chinese developer associated with the now-viral downtown LA high-rise that is covered from top to bottom with graffiti.
“There’s people going up there, standing on unfinished ledges to get a photo,” said Joeel. “Social media stunts for photos. We just can’t allow that to happen. Somebody is going to get hurt in there.”
Construction on a new $1.1 million taxpayer-funded fence continues around the property abandoned almost five years ago by Oceanwide Holdings, a Chinese Development firm.
“Oceanwide Developers are over in Beijing, China,” said LA Councilmember Kevin De León. “We have our hard-earned tax dollars protecting this failed development.”
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The City Council recently approved a $3.8 million plan to clean up the graffiti and fence off the property.
“We are going to hold [Oceanwide Developers] responsible,” said De León. “We’re sending them the bill and if they don’t cooperate, we’ll put a lien on them.”
Throughout the last few weeks, 28 people have been arrested for trespassing at Graffiti Towers. LAPD will continue providing security until the new fence is complete.
“We have a wall in Mexico, you think this wall is going to do something?” asked West, a nearby resident. “Come on. If people want to do something, they’re going to do it. Right now, we’re just wasting our money doing this, when we have tons of other issues that we should address.”