LOS ANGELES, California (KMID/KPEJ) – Right next to the Crypto.com Arena, LA Live, and the LA Convention Center, one of downtown LA’s skyscrapers is being considered by many as an eyesore after 27 floors of the building were tagged by groups of vandals.
“Last night, there was a crew on one of the floors,” said street photographer Daron Burgundy. “People were coming out and getting detained by LAPD and getting cited and released. And people were there tagging as the cops were still down there.”
Burgundy is a street photographer who knows downtown LA like the back of his hand and has watched over the last few nights as groups of people broke into oceanwide plaza and spray painted nearly every floor with a balcony.
The three towers that make up the plaza was one of the largest real estate projects in the city, with an estimated price tag of more than $1 billion dollars. However, the developer, China-based Oceanwide Holdings, reportedly ran out of money in 2019 and never finished the project.
“I am honestly kind of surprised that it took this long for it to happen. The building has been sitting there for years basically untouched,” Burgundy said.
Witnesses say taggers have been seen in the empty building over the years, but as many as this in such a short period of time.
“Last night I heard that there are even people coming from out of the state to come paint over here,” Burgundy continued. “LAPD mentioned that there might be an Instagram post floating around, apparently inviting people to come.”
LAPD would not say if any arrests have been made, but LAPD Central Division did say additional security measures would be implemented immediately and the graffiti will be removed.