Holly MatkinLos Angeles, CA – California Governor Gavin Newsom immediately apologized to gang members for inadvertently blaming them for the ongoing mass looting of train cars traveling through the city.
Newsom made the comment during a press conference at the Lincoln Heights area Union Pacific Railroad tracks on Jan. 20, the Washington Times reported.
The site was strewn with debris and litter stretching as far as they eye could see, video footage showed.
Union Pacific California Director of Public Affairs Adrian Guerrero issued a letter to progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon back in December, begging him to follow through with prosecution of the cargo thieves who have been wreaking havoc on the trains moving through the area for months, according to the Daily Mail.
“Not only do these dramatic increases represent retail product thefts — they include increased assaults and armed robberies of UP employees performing their duties moving trains,” Guerrero wrote, according to The Western Journal.
“These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than twenty-four hours,” he noted in the letter. “Criminals boast to our officers that charges will be pled down to simple trespassing – which bears no serious consequence.”
Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to #LincolnHeights to see it all. And… there’s looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPS boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/JvNF4UVy2K
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
Thefts from Union Pacific trains in Los Angeles County have soared by 160 percent over the past year, according to the railway company.
Criminals have been breaking into the train cars, stealing content from inside packages, and discarding boxes and packing material onto the ground, causing a massive pileup of debris.
just look at this. if amazon has 'lost' your package this is likely why: out of control train robberies in Los Angeles
under these extremist pro-crime Democrats California is descending into total, inhuman chaos. we HAVE to turn things around #CaliforniaRevolution ✊ pic.twitter.com/VYLuW62SkX
— steve hilton (@SteveHiltonx) January 19, 2022
The organized thefts began about seven months ago, after the “Defund the Police” movement resulted in fewer officers on the streets, one resident told the Los Angeles Times.
Robert Vega, who lives in the area, said it became commonplace for him to see thieves using metal-cutting tools to pry their way into the railcar containers.
“You could see sparks flying,” Vega told the Los Angeles Times. “I can come out at night and there are trucks loading up. It’s insane.”
“They are doing a cleanup today, but nothing is going to change unless they deal with train pirates,” he added.
NEW: Leftover trash from train robberies in Los Angeles derail 17 train cars
Looting of cargo has increased 160% since last year when LA District Attorney George Gascon took office pic.twitter.com/ZyRW2kambJ— John Paul (@JohnPau48768589) January 18, 2022
Newsom expressed his disgust over the condition of the litter-strewn railway during his visit to one of the many theft sites, The Washington Times reported.
“This is not one-off. This is organized theft,” the governor declared. “These are organized gangs of people that are coming out.”
He then quickly corrected himself, asking gangs to forgive him for inadvertently speaking of them with disapproval and contempt.
“Forgive me for saying ‘gangs,’ that’s not a pejorative,” he said, according to The Washington Times. “They’re organized groups of folks that move from site to site.”
Newsom said looters are “arrested as if they’re individuals” who “are not connected to the whole.”
“We need to change that,” he added.
Modern day train robbery in Los Angeles. If your missing anything from UPS or FedEx, look closely. pic.twitter.com/CQcCU9Sihw
— Walter Parker (@WalterP99525397) January 18, 2022
Newsom seemed to be even more shocked over the condition of the railway after he viewed it in person.
“It looked like a third world country, these images, the drone images that were on the nightly news,” he said, according to the Daily Mail. “I took off the suit and tie and said I’m coming because I couldn’t take it. I can’t turn on the news anymore. What the hell is going on?”
The governor said many of the items stolen from the trains end up being sold online, The Washington Times reported.
“I promise you, all of you — some of you have bought some of this stuff that was not in those boxes because they ended up on some online platform at a remarkably discounted price,” Newsom said.
He said investigators have recovered more than $2 million worth of stolen items so far.
The images look as if they belong to a post-apocalyptic film rather than present-day Los Angeles.
Train tracks in Lincoln Heights, are covered with thousands of discarded packages apparently left behind by thieves. Among the detritus are torn Amazon boxes and family photos. pic.twitter.com/PTm7qLCe3d— BigDaddy (@strujillo075) January 21, 2022
“Some cases presented to our office by Union Pacific have been filed, such as burglary and grand theft, while others have been declined due to insufficient evidence,” Gascon’s spokesperson, Alex Bastian, said in response to Guerrero’s letter last month, according to the Daily Mail.
“We make charging decisions based on the evidence. Our office takes Union Pacific’s concerns seriously and hopes to discuss this issue more in the coming weeks,” Bastian added.
But on Jan. 21, one day after Newsom’s visit to the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, Gascon fired off a letter to Union Pacific blaming the company itself for the surge in thefts, the Daily Mail reported.
Gascon said the railway company filed fewer criminal cases with his office in 2020 than it did the year prior and he boasted that he has filed charges in “over 55 percent” of the cases filed with his office so far this year.
The prosecutor said Union Pacific should also do a better job with its own security force.
“[Union Pacific] does little to secure or lock trains and has significantly decreased law enforcement staffing,” Gascon wrote. “It is very telling that other major railroad operations in the area are not facing the same level of theft at their facilities as UP.”
Approximately 1,600 people work for Union Pacific in Los Angeles County, the Daily Mail reported.
The company also has its own police department, but local police and former Union Pacific employees have claimed the police force has been slashed due to budgetary issues, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Union Pacific from Yuma, Ariz., to L.A. has six people patrolling,” Los Angeles Police Captain German Hurtado told the paper. “It is like digging sand at the beach. We set up a task force. We are making an arrest and then we see a quarter of a mile down the track someone else taking merchandise.”
"The adults are back in charge"
Drone footage shows thousands of looted packages left behind on train tracks in Los Angeles….
— Joost Broekers (@JoostBroekers) January 18, 2022
A Union Pacific spokesperson told The Washington Times the company is “grateful to our partners, including the Governor of California, law enforcement agencies including [police, the sheriff’s office and highway patrol], and our customers including UPS, that are standing with us.”
She said Union Pacific has bumped up the number of special agents on the ground in Los Angeles County, and that it has also increased its use of “drones, specialized fencing, and trespass detection systems” in an effort to “combat this criminal activity.”
Ruptly News Watch, [Jan 18, 2022 at 1:48 PM]
Rail robberies leave LA train tracks covered in litterThousand of shredded boxes, packages and discarded products stolen from cargo containers piled up on the Union Pacific train tracks near downtown Los Angeles, on Monday.
## pic.twitter.com/RZM0xvwF8q— THE TRUTH If they are armed, we are armed, too (@joinprat) January 25, 2022
Guerrero said the lack of action from California government officials has been “incredibly disappointing and frustrating,” The Western Journal reported.
“But that’s the reality of what Union Pacific has been facing over the past year, and it’s helping us shine a light on this issue,” he said. “I think it’s a call to action for a number of stakeholders involved in this issue because … there are a number of folks being impacted by this.”
