Graffiti towers: Trespassers get away after hours-long standoff with police

Graffiti Towers LA: more arrests, trespassers

Two more people have been arrested at the now infamous graffiti towers in downtown Los Angeles, while LAPD officers outside the towers wait for more who are holed up inside.

LOS ANGELES - A small group of young adults holed themselves up for hours inside the now infamous "Graffiti Towers" in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday.

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. Early Wednesday evening, police said they believed several of the others were still inside. By Wednesday night, however, police said there was no one left in the building, and no other arrests were made.

At one point, LAPD Captain Raul Joeel said the department had 18 officers around the building waiting for the trespassers to come out.

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."

Downtown LA Crime and Public Safety