AT&T customers left without service in Baldwin Hills due to copper thefts
BALDWIN HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Copper thieves are targeting AT&T customers and affecting landline service in Baldwin Hills and the company is now trying to solve the issue with the help of law enforcement.
"Nothing... nothing," said Pearl McKnight in reference to her hardline phone, which has been out of service for the last couple weeks.
The 88-year-old says AT&T representatives told her she lost her phone service because thieves stole the copper cables connected to the hardline phone wiring in the area.
She said over 700 families are without service, possibly until the end of November.
McKnight said the phone company told her work crews can't make repairs to restore service until new cables are ordered.
Copper theft in Los Angeles is a serious problem that prompted the city to create a Heavy Metal Task Force to deal with it. The task force has made arrests and seized a mountain of stolen metal wire.
The city also created a reward system to encourage people to report copper theft. While she has a cellphone, many elderly people like her rely more heavily on their hardline phone service to make and receive calls.
"A lot of seniors are not familiar with their cellphones, or they don't have a cellphone," McKnight added. "They rely on their landline. A lot of your information to your doctor's, they have the number for your landline, not your cellphone number. So, your doctors can't contact you."
AT&T released the following statement to Eyewitness News: "We are currently experiencing landline service disruptions in the Baldwin Hills area due to copper thefts, and our teams are working as quickly as possible to resolve them. We are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for specific and detailed information that leads to arrest and conviction for copper cable thefts or the attempted sale or purchase of stolen copper cable from AT&T in the Los Angeles area."
