Thieves allegedly stole copper wire from streetlights in Los Angeles, California, leaving entire blocks along Miracle Mile in darkness Monday.
The thieves are allegedly stealing copper wire from the streetlights, CBS News reported. Thieves have allegedly ripped wires out of utility boxes, CBS Los Angeles’ Nicole Comstock said in a video report. At least two whole blocks were dark Monday.
A local resident identified only as Jay said he’s been telling Los Angeles authorities about the issue since last spring.
“Entire blocks are not even lit, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any hope to get them rewired in the near future,” he said.
“How are we supposed to host the [2028] Olympics when we can’t even keep the lights on?” Jay continued. “It’s insane. I’m looking forward to the Olympics, but I also want some street lights.”
Dr. Shindale Seale, who was driving in the vicinity, also expressed concern over the outages.
“As it gets later and darker, it definitely [causes] you concern as to whether or not I want to be driving down here,” Seale said. (RELATED: Mysterious Metal Installations Appear In Major City And No One Knows Where Or Exactly Why)
Copper wire thefts have been surging in Los Angeles, CBS News reported in October 2025. California Investigates discovered that over 37,000 streetlight repair requests were reported as of September 2025, with over half of residents still requiring service. The investigation was conducted using city data.
Fifteen percent of the system was affected by outages, with almost half of service requests being related to wire theft, the Bureau of Street Lighting told CBS News via email at the time. Stolen copper wire is worth $11,000, while rewiring repairs were estimated to cost the city more than $2.5 million.
Democratic California State Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez introduced Assembly Bill 476 to target metal theft. The bill was approved by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 13, 2025.
“Every stolen wire is more than metal ripped from the ground; it’s light ripped from our communities,” Gonzalez said regarding the bill.
Jay said he felt the city was not taking the issue seriously. “This needs to be a priority and the city’s not making it a priority and that hurts,” he told CBS News.
The Daily Caller contacted the Bureau of Street Lighting and Gonzalez’s office, neither of whom immediately commented.