After the theft of hundreds of bronze plaques in recent months throughout Los Angeles County, investigators say they are making progress in recovering some of the stolen plaques that tell the history of the region.
On Tuesday, police recovered two stolen license plates during a traffic stop, the Los Angeles Port Police announced.
Since early December, bronze plaques commemorating the ports' history have been ripped off and torn from several memorials, including the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial erected in 1989, officials said in a news release.
A plaque stolen from Terminal Island in San Pedro honors members of the Japanese American fishing community who were imprisoned during World War II.
Both plates remain missing.
After stopping a vehicle during Tuesday's traffic stop, Los Angeles Port Police found a cemetery marker stolen from a site in Long Beach and a plaque taken from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Long Beach, the sheriff said. Port Police, Thomas Gazsi.
Police arrested Dionzay Tisby, 42; Brittany Draper, 37; and Deona Jackson, 28, on suspicion of grand theft, authorities announced.
The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation and the suspects could face additional charges if police are able to connect them to other robberies.
“We all take it very seriously,” Gazsi said of the thefts. “We believe they are responsible for additional thefts. “I appreciate the lengthy investigation that involved significant forensic and field work by our investigators.”
Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, who represents the district that includes the port area, called the thefts “heartbreaking” and said the community views the entire situation as a “gross disrespect toward fishermen, the industries that built the ports.”
There are plans to replace the plates if they cannot be recovered, said McOsker, who is talking to port officials to help with the effort.
The Los Angeles Port Police is the lead agency in the investigation, which extends outside its jurisdiction.
In January, more than 100 bronze plaques were stolen from Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Carson. About a week earlier, thieves knocked down tombstones and stole metal plaques from Woodlawn Memorial Park in Compton, according to cemetery volunteers and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Perhaps the most egregious theft of bronze plaques occurred in Manhattan Beach, where Los Angeles County returned land to the family of Willa Bruce, who sought to create a beach resort for a black community in 1912.
The city rededicated the site last year with a new plaque that told the story of the racism the family faced in Manhattan Beach. In late January, the large bronze plaque was torn from its base, according to the Manhattan Police Department.
Anyone with information about the robberies can contact Los Angeles Port Police detectives at (310) 732-3500.
