![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-at-12.59.12-PM-2-1200x913.png\")
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<\/p>\n
Sweet Red Peach co-owner Kenyatta Glover started a GoFundMe<\/a> after her bakery\u2019s 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. \u201cWe\u2019re praying we get this resolved as soon as possible,\u201d Glover tells Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, thieves climbed onto our roof and completely destroyed our commercial air-conditioning system,\u201d Glover wrote in her plea for help<\/a>, which has so far raised about $8500. \u201cThey 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.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get everything out as fast as possible,\u201d she tells Los Angeles. \u201cWe have cinnamon rolls, strawberry cakes and we\u2019re known for our specialty cakes, Red Velvet and German Chocolate.\u201d Glover says the community response has been very good and stresses that she\u2019s grateful for the support. \u201cNeighbors and Friends <\/a>restaurant in South Pasadena loaned us two swamp coolers,\u201d Glover says. \u201cAnd Yo Way<\/a> sandwich shop in Gardena came in and bought us out of everything so we could close for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n \u201cThis is pretty bad damage,\u201d says Johnny Monroy, of the Joint Journeymen & Apprentice Training Center<\/a>. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t even try to repair it. It\u2019s gonna be a mess.\u201d 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. \u201cYou\u2019d be amazed how good these people are at stealing things,\u201d he says of copper thieves. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a> in Carthay Circle that had to be restored after vandals cut him in half <\/a>and hauled him to a scrapyard in South L.A. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 both cells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pasadena bakery is getting by with help from neighbors and friends Cakes are melting, dogs are barking and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[62229,68632,163454,18248,48,52,51,47,50,49,1977],"class_list":["post-407629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-air-conditioning","tag-copper-theft","tag-copper-wire-task-force","tag-gofundme","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-pasadena"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407629","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=407629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-21-at-1.18.07-PM-1200x852.png\")
Discarded insulation from wire theft litters a bike path near San JoseCredit: Photo by Richard Masoner\/Flickr<\/p>\n