Los Angeles police arrested two people this week for spraying graffiti on nearly 30 floors of a vacant and unfinished downtown skyscraper.
The label covers a large portion of a tower at the $1 billion Oceanwide Plaza, a stalled mixed-use retail and residential project that has been unfinished since 2019. The site is located across from the Crypto.com Arena, where this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony was held. The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday.
There were reports of vandalism being witnessed at the site on several nights this week.
“I could see people on the balconies marking things,” street photographer Daron Burgundy told KTLA. “Last night, there was a staff member on one of the floors, and people came out and were detained by the LAPD and then cited and released. People were still tagging inside while the police were down there.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that its air support unit spotted more than a dozen people invading the building and “possibly spray-painting” just after midnight on January 30. When police arrived in the area, the group fled, except for two people who police arrested on trespassing charges.
Days later, police received a vandalism call after reports of someone spray-painting the building on the 30th floor. When law enforcement arrived, they fled. The call ultimately resulted in a traffic ticket.
Detectives are continuing to investigate in hopes of arresting the suspect, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.
The police department said officers are working with Oceanwide Plaza management to better secure the location and implement additional security measures.
“These measures will be implemented immediately and the graffiti will be removed,” the LAPD said. explain.
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Construction of Oceanwide Plaza began in 2015 and is expected to be the tallest residential tower in the city. The project, described by its creators as Los Angeles’ “most anticipated mixed-use development,” will bring more than 500 high-end apartments, a Park Hyatt hotel, retail and restaurant space.
But by 2019, the project’s Beijing-based developers ran out of funds and construction stalled.
