Pasadena bakery is getting by with help from neighbors and friends
Cakes are melting, dogs are barking and the bikes are too hot to handle after a string of copper wire thefts knocked out the air conditioning at several businesses in Pasadena.
With temperatures predicted in the 90s this week, the Pasadena Animal Hospital, Trek bicycle store and Sweet Red Peach bakery, all within a mile of each other, reported vandalism that caused their air conditioning systems to fail, according to ABC7.
L.A. Fire Chief R.J. Scott cools off on a hot day in 1935Credit: Photo from Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection//University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections
Sweet Red Peach co-owner Kenyatta Glover started a GoFundMe after her bakery’s rooftop AC unit was stripped for copper wire, causing temperatures to spike inside the shop filled with delicate sweet treats. Their walk-in coolers are out of commission, but the shop remains open with customers wanting to support the new mom-and-pop local business. “We’re praying we get this resolved as soon as possible,” Glover tells Los Angeles.
“Recently, thieves climbed onto our roof and completely destroyed our commercial air-conditioning system,” Glover wrote in her plea for help, which has so far raised about $8500. “They forced open the rooftop unit and ripped out the high-grade copper wiring and condensing coils to sell for scrap metal. While they walked away with a small amount of scrap cash, they left us with thousands of dollars in damage and a completely unusable HVAC system.”
“We’re trying to get everything out as fast as possible,” she tells Los Angeles. “We have cinnamon rolls, strawberry cakes and we’re known for our specialty cakes, Red Velvet and German Chocolate.” Glover says the community response has been very good and stresses that she’s grateful for the support. “Neighbors and Friends restaurant in South Pasadena loaned us two swamp coolers,” Glover says. “And Yo Way sandwich shop in Gardena came in and bought us out of everything so we could close for the day.”
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“This is pretty bad damage,” says Johnny Monroy, of the Joint Journeymen & Apprentice Training Center. “I wouldn’t even try to repair it. It’s gonna be a mess.” Monroy explains that air conditioning manufacturers use copper and sometimes cheaper aluminum in the units, but that copper conducts heat better and is sometimes repairable. “You’d be amazed how good these people are at stealing things,” he says of copper thieves. “They climb a tree, get up on the roof, have battery-powered tools and it goes fast. You cut it, you yank it, and you cut across the roof.”
The city of Los Angeles has spent millions reversing the effects of metal theft from streetlights, fire hydrants, plumbing fixtures at libraries and parks and even public art like the 1925 miner sculpture in Carthay Circle that had to be restored after vandals cut him in half and hauled him to a scrapyard in South L.A.
Discarded insulation from wire theft litters a bike path near San JoseCredit: Photo by Richard Masoner/Flickr
Pasadena officials recommend hiding ladders, adding motion detectors and security cameras and installing heavy-duty, tamper-resistant steel cages around rooftop air conditioning units. The Pasadena Police Department asks people with information on the thefts to call (626) 744-4241.
Copper wire theft has been a cat-and-mouse game between criminals and law enforcement for generations. In 1915, Glendale police hopped on board a streetcar after the conductor called in to report four passengers carrying hundreds of pounds of stolen wire. A chase through the orange groves ensued, and the perpetrators filled the Glendale jail to capacity – both cells.