A large display of illegal fireworks was caught on camera over the weekend on Los Angeles' problem-plagued 6th Street Bridge, joining a long list of issues like copper theft, street takeovers and vandalism.
The cell phone video shows dozens of people as they set up multiple boxes of what looked to be fireworks. The footage also shows large, commercial-grade pyrotechnics lined along the road, some propped up in traffic cones, in the moments before being lit.
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The large display of fireworks over the 6th Street Bridge over the weekend. @capturela/IG
The brilliant, but illegal, display takes place over several minutes, lighting up the night sky over the bridge that connects Boyle Heights to downtown LA as the crowd walks through the street. At the end of the video, some Los Angeles Fire Department crews are seen showing up to extinguish the smoldering remains of the boxes that carried the fireworks.
While it's unclear if a police report has been filed or if an investigation is underway, Los Angeles Police Department officials told CBS LA that they were aware of the video.
The nearly $600 million bridge, which replaced what would now be a nearly century-old viaduct, was supposed to be a "Ribbon of Light" for Los Angeles. However, since its opening in July 2022, it has become a growing issue for city leaders and law enforcement, who have struggled to keep the bridge from being pilfered by copper thieves, who have left the landmark completely in the dark on several occasions.
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A man getting his haircut in the middle of the 6th Street Bridge in 2022. @lillyy.xo/IG
Just a week after it was opened to traffic, a video posted online showed a driver performing donuts in the middle of the road, causing traffic to stop in both directions. Days later, another video showed a car speeding down the bridge before losing control and colliding with parked cars on the side of the road. That same week, a viral video showed a man getting his hair cut in the middle of the road as traffic continued around him and the barber.
These were some of the first instances in a series of publicized stunts and street takeovers that became a nightly affair on the busy thoroughfare. Eventually, LAPD officers closed the road for a week in 2022 due to the "illegal activity," but not before vandals defaced the bridge with graffiti and skid marks.
In 2023, a man had to be rescued from the LA River after he fell from the bridge. Other viral videos have shown people walking along the expansive arches that run along the length of the bridge.