The Los Angeles Police Department's Commercial Crimes Division has put the cuffs on two men for their suspected involvement in a high-stakes cargo theft. On May 21, 2024, authorities nabbed Brian Sam, 55, from Upland, and Nicholas Minasyan, 22, from Santa Clarita, with a hot load of copper sheets in their possession—a haul valued at a cool $175,000. According to a statement on the LAPD's newsroom, both men are now cooling their heels at LAPD’s Men’s Detention Center, booked on suspicion of receiving stolen property.
Charges against the suspects are in the pipeline, being prepped by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The two men got slapped with 496(A) PC-Receiving Stolen Property, reflecting just the tip of the iceberg of L.A.'s cargo theft problem. Keeping the city's streets clean of such crimes, the dedicated detectives at the LAPD’s Cargo Theft Unit (CTU) vow to keep the pressure on these high-value hijinks.
The theft of $175,000 worth of copper sheets, a material critical to our city's infrastructure and industry, signifies more than just monetary loss; it's a punch in the gut to the normalcy of commerce and trust in our systems. And while the LAPD has managed to trace and apprehend these suspects, they admit the investigation is far from over—a work in progress—as they continue to hunt down clues and close the net on any remaining accomplices.
Law enforcement officials are reaching out, urging the public to step forward with information that could lead to a breakthrough in the ongoing investigation into the theft. The call to arms comes with the promise that tipsters can remain in the shadows, anonymous, should they reach out to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or through a web of texts and online prompts detailed on the LAPD's digital outpost. Swamped with cargo theft and other commercial crimes, officers on the beat and their detective allies fight relentlessly to keep L.A.'s commercial lifeline free from the stranglehold of criminal enterprise.
