{"id":331046,"date":"2026-05-25T01:06:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/331046\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T01:06:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T01:06:41","slug":"copper-theft-investigation-leads-to-arrest-in-north-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/331046\/","title":{"rendered":"Copper Theft Investigation Leads to Arrest in North Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Copper wire thefts continue to rise across Long Beach, prompting increased enforcement efforts by the Long Beach Police Department as investigators work to combat a growing problem impacting neighborhoods and public infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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Police announced the arrest of a suspect connected to an ongoing copper theft investigation after officers discovered a man allegedly tampering with city electrical wiring early Tuesday morning in North Long Beach.<\/p>\n

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According to LBPD, patrol officers, the department\u2019s High Crime Focus Team, and Burglary Detail have spent the past several months investigating a recent increase in copper theft incidents throughout the region. Authorities say the thefts have caused damage to city lighting infrastructure and created safety concerns for residents.<\/p>\n

The latest arrest occurred on May 20 at approximately 3:26 a.m. in the 3600 block of Orange Avenue. A North Division patrol sergeant reportedly observed a man appearing to tamper with electrical wiring connected to a city light fixture.<\/p>\n

After detaining the suspect, officers allegedly discovered approximately 39 pounds of wiring believed to have been stolen from city light pole infrastructure, along with tools commonly used to remove wiring.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, officers also located additional evidence of vandalism involving city lighting infrastructure in the 3500 and 3600 blocks of Orange Avenue.<\/p>\n

The suspect was identified as Saul Chavez Viveros, a 30-year-old Long Beach resident. He was booked on charges of grand theft and felony vandalism. Bail remains pending magistrate review.<\/p>\n

Police emphasized that copper theft remains a serious issue affecting communities throughout Long Beach and surrounding areas. Stolen wiring can leave streets darkened, increase repair costs, and create hazardous conditions for drivers and pedestrians.<\/p>\n

LBPD said officers and detectives will continue working with city departments to identify and arrest additional suspects connected to copper theft activity.<\/p>\n

Authorities are encouraging residents to report suspicious activity as part of the department\u2019s \u201cSee Something, Say Something\u201d campaign. Residents can call 9-1-1 during emergencies or contact Police Dispatch to report suspected copper theft activity.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Copper wire thefts continue to rise across Long Beach, prompting increased enforcement efforts by the Long Beach Police…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-331046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}