Image Credit: CBS Los Angeles 
Alarming footage out of Los Angeles shows train cars in the area are being broken into and ransacked before packages being transported are able to reach their destinations.
Video posted to Twitter by CBS 2 photojournalist John Schreiber shows thousands of destroyed boxes and packages littered along a railway in Lincoln Heights, indicating criminals are breaking into train cars to pilfer merchandise.
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
Schreiber walks around filming some of the goods tossed about: an unopened, undelivered Amazon package, empty UPS bags, Covid rapid tests and fishing lures.
I’m told by law enforcement these @UPS bags are especially sought after by thieves opening cargo containers… they are often full of boxes with merchandise bound for residential addresses. More valuable than say, a cargo container full of low value bulky items like toilet paper. pic.twitter.com/Tj5bQNIeby
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
As a train slowly travels along the railway, Schreiber notes one of the train car doors is swung wide open, suggesting someone has broken into the compartment.
This opened package from @REI destined for Bainbridge Island, WA was taken off a train. Typing in the @UPS tracking # and it obviously lists it as “delayed.” We found lots of opened packages bound for the Northwest along this section of tracks. pic.twitter.com/dO82QoJhTT
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
“Cargo thieves have been stealing valuable items from these trains while they are either stopped or slowing down so they can be brought into the Union Pacific Intermodal facility in downtown LA, where the cargo is moved to a new mode of transportation,” reports the Daily Mail.
“To break into these containers, thieves will often use bolt cutters to break the locks and steal whatever they can get their hands on.”
Schreiber says if anyone’s missing a package, “Maybe it’s among the thousands we found discarded along the tracks.”
Missing a package? Shipment delayed? Maybe your package is among the thousands we found discarded along the tracks. This is but one area thieves have targeted trains. We were told this area was just cleaned up 30 days ago so what you see is all within the last month. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/43002DPyZa
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
“This is but one area thieves have targeted trains. We were told this area was just cleaned up 30 days ago so what you see is all within the last month,” Schreiber reports.
In a statement addressing the train burglaries, the Union Pacific railroad company said it would take steps to mitigate the crime wave, but asked for support from local law enforcement and community leaders.
“Union Pacific is very concerned about the increased cargo thefts in California, and we have taken several steps to address this criminal activity,” they stated.
“These rail crimes pose a serious safety threat to the public, our employees and local law enforcement officers.”
“We have increased the number of Union Pacific special agents on patrol, and we have utilized and explored additional technologies to help us combat this criminal activity.”
“We also will continue to work with our local law enforcement partners and elected leaders.”
Clearly emboldened criminals are capitalizing on local and state laws that have essentially sanctioned looting and shoplifting from stores, and defund police efforts that have taken cops off the streets.
Meanwhile, violent crime rates are rising in Los Angeles, where homicides are up by 94% this year.
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