LOS ANGELES, CA – About a dozen masked suspects in three vehicles drove into a building in the 600 block of Imperial Street, near the 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles, early Tuesday, and three people were taken into custody after a pursuit, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers were sent to the location at 1:03 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, on a “suspects there now” call, the LAPD said. The caller reported 12 masked suspects in three vehicles: a red sedan, a black sedan and a silver SUV.
The vehicles went through a gate and into the building, LAPD Officer Jeff Miller told reporters. Preliminary information was that the building housed a marijuana grow operation or a cannabis store.
Police believe the incident is connected to a second break-in at a dispensary on nearby Mateo Street.
Officers sent on a “suspects there now” call
The call came in at 1:03 a.m., and officers were dispatched to the 600 block of Imperial Street. The area is near the 6th Street Bridge on the edge of downtown Los Angeles.
Miller said about a dozen suspects in three vehicles went through a gate at the facility around 1 a.m. The LAPD described the suspects as masked.
The department has not released descriptions of the individual suspects.
Security guard hid inside the building
A security guard was inside the building when the vehicles drove in. According to initial reports, the guard hid rather than confront the intruders.
The LAPD has not reported any injuries in connection with the incident.
Pursuit ends near Central Avenue and 49th Street
When officers arrived, the suspects left in their vehicles. One of the vehicles tried to flee, and officers pursued it.
The pursuit lasted about five minutes and ended near Central Avenue and 49th Street, Miller said. Three burglary suspects were taken into custody there.
The department has not said whether the three people in custody were in the vehicle that fled or how the other suspects left the scene.
Second break-in found on Mateo Street
Around 2:40 a.m., officers conducting a follow-up investigation found a second break-in at the Sweet Flower dispensary in the 600 block of Mateo Street. The business’s front window had been smashed.
Officers cleared the building and found no suspects inside.
Police link the two incidents
The LAPD said it believes the Imperial Street and Mateo Street incidents are connected. Police also raised the possibility of a third scene and gave few details about it.
The two locations are in the same part of downtown Los Angeles, within about a block of each other, according to the addresses the department gave.
Burglary figures from LAPD data
The LAPD’s COMPSTAT Citywide Profile for Sept. 13 to Oct. 10 lists 567 burglary and breaking-and-entering incidents in that period. The comparison period had 649, a decrease of 12.6%.
Year to date, the same profile lists 6,774 such incidents, against 9,173 in the same period of the prior comparison year, a 26.2% decrease. The department says its 2026 and 2025 counts follow National Incident-Based Reporting System offense definitions and the date each crime occurred. The figures cover the entire city.
Mayor Karen Bass’ office has also announced a 43% drop in burglaries in the San Fernando Valley since last August and a 27% drop citywide, according to the release title.
Charges not announced for three in custody
The LAPD had not said what was taken from either location, what charges the three people in custody face or who they are. An arrest is not a conviction, and any allegations remain subject to the criminal court process.
Anyone with information about the Imperial Street or Mateo Street incidents is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
The investigation remains active, and police continue to examine whether a third scene is connected to the two break-ins.
