Darkness on Wilshire Boulevard as Copper Wire Thieves Paralyze Los Angeles Streetlights

20 January 2026

Copper wire thieves shut off the lights on a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in the heart of LA’s Miracle Mile. CBS

When the sun set over Los Angeles on January 20, 2026, an eerie quiet settled over parts of the city’s iconic Miracle Mile that regular visitors and residents knew all too well. Long stretches of Wilshire Boulevard between Highland Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard were plunged into darkness, not by planned power outages or construction work, but by a crime wave that has left some of L.A.’s most historic streets unlit at night. In recent weeks, brazen thieves targeting copper wiring have ripped the precious metal from streetlight poles, leaving entire blocks shrouded in night and prompting widespread concern among neighbors, business owners and safety officials who worry about the consequences of unlit avenues in one of the nation’s busiest urban corridors.

The Miracle Mile, famed for its museums, cultural institutions and as a gateway to Los Angeles’s storied past, looked unrecognizable after the thefts. Storefronts that usually glowed under the soft radiance of streetlights now stood in shadow as pedestrians and drivers navigated in semi-darkness. Residents say the outages are not just inconvenient but dangerous, creating conditions that raise fears about pedestrian safety, traffic visibility and opportunistic crime in areas suddenly devoid of illumination. One local lamented that walking down these iconic thoroughfares felt “like navigating a tunnel without lights,” a stark contrast to the bustling energy visitors expect from a district anchored by landmark museums and daytime foot traffic.

City infrastructure officials have traced the outages to repeated thefts of copper wiring from utility and municipal light poles. Copper, long prized on the scrap market for its conductivity and high resale value, has increasingly become a target for thieves who make quick cash by stripping wiring from public and private infrastructure alike. In Los Angeles, the problem has metastasized in recent months, with reports not only in Miracle Mile but in areas such as Hancock Park and Mar Vista where whole neighborhoods have experienced prolonged darkness after thieves stripped dozens of streetlights. In some cases, residents resorted to purchasing and installing their own solar-powered lamps on disabled poles in a grassroots gesture meant to restore some semblance of safety while the official repairs lag.

City authorities acknowledge that repairing the damage and restoring lost lighting is a lengthy and costly process. Public works crews often take months to locate replacement wiring, schedule utility shutdowns and install new lines, a timeline made worse by the scale of theft that has left not just lightposts but telephone poles and other public infrastructure starved of cabling. These delays, critics say, reflect a broader failure to prioritize basic services even as Los Angeles prepares for major international events in the coming years. One local resident questioned how the city could promote itself as a world-class destination while parts of its most famous streets sit in darkness, highlighting a growing frustration with a perceived lack of urgency among municipal officials.

Residents and business owners along Wilshire Boulevard have complained that repeated reports to city departments about outages have yielded little progress. Some say they have been told to expect repair times that stretch nine to twelve months, a wait that feels untenable for those who navigate these streets after dusk. With telecommunications lines and traffic signals also vulnerable to similar thefts, community advocates warn that the repercussions extend beyond darkness and into public safety particularly in a city where emergency response times and nighttime traffic visibility are critical to everyday life.

The thefts reflect a deeper trend of infrastructure crime that has rippled across Los Angeles and other major cities. Police reports from earlier in January indicated that rustlers were even intercepted near Los Angeles International Airport while cutting copper wire from utility installations, an indication that these theft rings are mobile and opportunistic. Though arrests have occasionally been made, analysts say that the underground market for stolen copper remains robust enough to encourage ongoing criminal enterprise. With scrap yards and recycling centers under scrutiny, law enforcement has pressed for tighter controls and more stringent documentation requirements for anyone trading in metal, but streetlight outages continue to mount.

For many drivers and residents, the blackouts have transformed routine travel into uneasy experiences. Where headlights once complemented the soft glow of municipal lamps, cars now have to compensate for darkness that obscures crosswalks, curbs and unseen obstacles. Locals remember parks and sidewalks once lit by bulbs that shone into the late evening, creating a sense of welcoming urban life; now, with lights out for blocks, those same sidewalks feel shadowy and uninviting. One neighbor said she avoids evening walks entirely, citing the darkness and its psychological weight on a street that once felt safe even after dusk.

City officials have appealed to residents to report outages and offer updates, but many in the Miracle Mile say that until streetlights are restored and security increases on vulnerable infrastructure, the problem will persist. Some business owners have discussed hiring private night patrols or installing their own lighting systems to protect storefronts and customers, a workaround that underscores a broader dissatisfaction with the pace of municipal response. For visitors unfamiliar with the area, the contrast between daylight vibrancy and nighttime blackout is jarring. For locals, it is a reminder that even the most iconic urban spaces are vulnerable to exploitation when essential services falter.

The copper wire thefts have sparked not just local concern but broader questions about infrastructure resilience in Los Angeles and other cities similarly plagued by metal theft. With repair costs reaching millions of dollars annually and public safety at stake, officials must balance budgetary constraints with the urgent need to protect neighborhoods. As this story continues to unfold, residents of the Miracle Mile and surrounding communities are left to navigate a patchwork of darkness and light, hopeful that solutions will emerge before the city’s most recognizable streets fall into permanent shadow.