A member of the media picks up a shredded box at a section of the Union Pacific train tracks in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Thieves have been raiding cargo containers aboard trains nearing downtown Los Angeles for months, leaving the tracks blanketed with discarded packages. The sea of debris left behind included items that the thieves apparently didn't think were valuable enough to take, CBSLA reported Thursday. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Crews made railroad repairs in Los Angeles Monday after a train derailed near the location where thieves have been raiding cargo containers, leaving the tracks littered with emptied boxes of packaged good sent by retailers.
It wasn't immediately clear if the derailment that happened Saturday was caused by the debris left behind by thieves in the Lincoln Heights area near downtown Los Angeles. Union Pacific said the cause of the derailment was under investigation.
The derailment caused 17 train cars to go off the tracks, Union Pacific said in a statement. No injuries were reported.
Cargo containers aboard trains have been targeted by thieves for months, authorities said. The stolen packages are from retailers including Amazon, REI and others, the CBSLA television newscast reported last Thursday.
Union Pacific said in a statement to CBSLA that the railroad was concerned about increased cargo thefts in California.
“We have increased the number of Union Pacific special agents on patrol, and we have utilized and explored additional technologies to help us combat this criminal activity. We also will continue to work with our local law enforcement partners and elected leaders,” the railroad company said.
Amazon said it was directing inquiries to police. The United Parcel Service declined to comment on investigations into the cargo thefts but said the company was cooperating with authorities.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
