Copper theft knocks out East LA sheriff station phones for 2 months

Copper thieves knocked out all landline phone service at the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station for nearly two months, forcing officials to relocate desk operations while AT&T crews worked to restore roughly 200 severed lines, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The outage is part of a series of four copper thefts targeting Boyle Heights public infrastructure, a pattern that has also darkened lighting on the Sixth Street Bridge and exposed Southern California's vulnerability to targeted metal theft at critical facilities.

Landline service at the station went dark in approximately late February, leaving deputies without conventional phone access for an extended stretch. The Sheriff's Department relocated desk operations to an alternate location to maintain staffing, though 911 and dispatch services were never interrupted, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

AT&T, which is working to reconnect the lines, attributed the prolonged outage to the nature of copper infrastructure. "The Boyle Heights area experienced four separate thefts that disrupted service for many customers, including the LA Sheriff's Department," the company said in a statement. "Due to the complexity of the copper infrastructure, restoration is taking longer, copper cable outages generally take five times longer on average than fiber outages." No restoration timeline has been provided.

The thefts have extended beyond the sheriff's station. Copper stolen from the Sixth Street Bridge has left the span without lighting, drawing concern from nearby residents. "It's sad... The Sixth Street Bridge is totally dark. That's not nice," Frank Joaquin, an East Los Angeles resident, told ABC7.

Joaquin also voiced concern about emergency communication gaps. "In an emergency you got to get a hold of somebody," he said. He questioned the station's continued reliance on landlines, adding, "I can't believe they still use landlines because they're too expensive and everybody has cellphones."

Non-emergency callers may experience delays reaching the station until repairs are complete.

AT&T said crews remain on site but offered no estimated completion date for restoring the approximately 200 lines at the station.