(John Ransom, Headline USA) Videos by CBS photojournalist John Schreiber have gone viral showing the debris left after extensive looting of freight trains in Los Angeles, according to Newsweek.
“A video showing multiple packages reportedly looted from Los Angeles trains has gone viral with over 2 million views,” said Newsweek.
Schreiber uploaded a half a dozen videos of the looting to Twitter.
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
“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,” said Schreiber via a Twitter video.
Schreiber’s video shows a train passing by a debris field that is littered with boxes, envelopes and other packages from trains, some of which are still unopened.
“Video footage has shown hundreds – if not thousands – of packages thrown across the railroad north of downtown Los Angeles, in the Lincoln Heights neighbourhood,” said the Independent.
Law enforcement officials said that UPS bags are especially sought after items, because they contain valuable contents shipped directly to the consumer, unlike containers that contain bulk items like toilet paper, according to Schreiber.
A still-shot of an unopened box shows the redacted tracking number. When entered into the UPS system, the system says the package has been “delayed,” said one Schreiber tweet.
The train robberies are adding to the general decline of the quality of life in Los Angeles, as police grapple with a string of organized robberies that have followed in the wake of so-called criminal reform in California.
“Los Angeles police have had to deal with smash and grab crimes occurring across the city,” noted Newsweek.
“On December 3, 2021, L.A. authorities confirmed that $340,000 worth of merchandise had been stolen in recent smash-and-grab thefts,” the online magazine added.
Local law-enforcement officials have said that they are not responsible for patrolling the train right-of-ways. That task falls to the Union Pacific police according to Schreiber, who included a video of railroad police chasing two suspects.
