Suspected copper wire thief found inside a manhole in West L.A., faces charges, authorities say
A man who was found inside a manhole attempting to steal copper wire in an unincorporated neighborhood in West Los Angeles over the weekend was criminally charged on Tuesday, according to authorities.
A resident reportedly spied a man descending into a manhole on Saturday afternoon and knew something unusual was up. The suspect lost his cover when arriving deputies found him in the hole and took him into custody, NBC4 reported.
Elliaz Natividad, 25, was arrested in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood, an unincorporated area patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. A department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Natividad has been charged with one count of an attempt to commit grand theft of copper materials exceeding $950 and one count of possession of burglary tools, according to court records.
Arrest records show Natividad was cited and released that same day, on Oct. 11, a day after copper wire thieves were suspected of causing internet outages for Verizon customers across L.A.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-14/suspected-copper-thief-found-inside-a-manwhole-in-west-l-a-arrested-and-charged
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