An incident of copper wire theft resulted in a temporary disruption of 911 services for the Arcadia Police Department, police confirmed Thursday. The theft occurred during the early hours of August 7, leading to a communication failure that prevented dispatchers from receiving emergency calls. According to NBC Los Angeles, the department quickly executed "redundant measures" to ensure public safety services continued without interruption.
Maintaining their investigative efforts, authorities found that approximately 60 feet of copper wire had been cut and removed from the underground lines on South Santa Anita Avenue near Huntington Drive, a discovery that pinpointed the cause of the outage. The cost of the stolen metal and subsequent repairs amounted to an estimated $10,000, according to the KTLA report. After weeks of investigation, the suspect, identified as 44-year-old Jose Gante-Gomez, was linked to the theft.
On Wednesday, officers recognized Gante-Gomez and his vehicle in the Pico-Union neighborhood, attempting to conduct a traffic stop. Contrary to initial compliance, Gante-Gomez reportedly exited his vehicle and fled on foot but was subsequently apprehended by police on the 600 block of Rampart Boulevard, as shared by KTLA. He faces charges of grand theft and resisting a peace officer.
