along midnight, the crowd assembled along Washington Boulevard and Maple Avenue.
It’s unknown why scores of individuals gathered at the intersection just south of downtown Los Angeles, but some were prepared to party in pink platform shoes and cat ears, according to video captured by news outlet OnScene.TV. A man swallowed from a jug containing a volatile substance and spat it into a torch, causing flames to spread throughout the night sky.
As a helicopter flew overhead, a man in a leather jacket climbed a light pole, his feet resting on a street sign. He took out his phone and appeared to be filming himself chatting into the camera.
The crowd’s attention was drawn to an A Line train that had halted along Washington Boulevard. According to the clip, vandals in the crowd began spray-painting the train and knocking on its windows.
According to Officer Kevin Terzes, an LAPD spokesperson, the Los Angeles Police Department received a complaint at 12:12 a.m. Sunday reporting that five male suspects had entered a train car and were vandalizing its interior.
A video shows scores of LAPD police forming a skirmish line across the street from the mob, grasping black and green riot rifles that fire foam shots.
Terzes added that at 12:19 a.m., the LAPD got another report of “disruptive” behavior on a train near Washington Boulevard and Trinity Street.
The officer stated that no one was arrested in connection with either call. It was unclear whether the LAPD detained anyone from the group shown on film spray-painting the façade of a Panda Express, Waba Grill, dialysis center, and medical clinic.
Some in the crowd took selfies near to a spray-painted LAPD cruiser. They shouted at the officers, threw a firecracker, and kicked the police car as it drove away, according to the video.
According to Jose Ubaldo, a Metro spokeswoman, roughly 50 people obstructed southbound and northbound trains at Washington Boulevard and Maple Avenue at midnight, delaying train service by about 20 minutes.
Vandals spray-painted the trains’ exteriors and interiors, but no passengers or Metro staff were injured, Ubaldo said in a statement.
He asked anyone with knowledge regarding the event to contact the LAPD at (800) 222-8477.