Downtown L.A. Has Seen Its Share of Violence. Then Someone Went After Its Trees.

New York Times

25-04-2025

On a busy stretch of Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, three orange-and-white traffic cones sit atop the dirt in grates on the sidewalk where three trees once stood.
It's not a construction site. It's a kind of crime scene.
The three trees were some of the victims of one man's bizarre eight-day tree-killing spree that destroyed more than a dozen mature trees in and around downtown Los Angeles, blocks from City Hall and Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The man, the authorities said, roamed the streets in the middle of the night and used a chain saw to cut elm, ficus and other trees. Some were sawed right across the middle. Others were left with bare branches. Officials said the damage totaled $347,000. He was apprehended on Earth Day.
Downtown Los Angeles is one of those urban American places that has, in a sense, seen it all.
There have been violent attacks that made headlines, such as a shooting at a Target in December that injured two security guards. There is homelessness, with tents and encampments spread across sidewalks and doorways. It had emptied out during the pandemic but has experienced a revival as tourists and residents flock to popular spots like Grand Central Market. Downtown remains a hub of protests and gatherings, including a parade last year celebrating the Dodgers' World Series victory.
But the sight of butchered trees, some of the few spots of greenery in a landscape of concrete and skyscrapers, has rattled and saddened Angelenos far beyond downtown.
The case sparked an intense manhunt, prompting the police to ask the public for tips and scour surveillance footage. The mayor, the district attorney and city leaders have weighed in. There have been news conferences calling for increased investments in public safety. After the wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and upended thousands of lives three months ago, some residents have wondered: What's next?
Blair Besten, the executive director of the nonprofit Historic Core Business Improvement District, said that while crime is not uncommon in the city, losing the trees felt personal for many residents of downtown.
'It's just one of those things,' Ms. Besten said. 'How bad can it get?'
One of the first trees was chopped down on April 14. Others were damaged in the days afterward. In all, at least 13 trees were destroyed or mutilated, and investigators were reviewing evidence to see if more trees had been cut down.
On Tuesday, the police said they had arrested a man at a homeless encampment who they believed was responsible. Detectives relied on tips from residents in the neighborhood and the surveillance footage they examined from several buildings and other sites.
The man, Samuel Patrick Groft, 45, of Los Angeles, was charged with felony vandalism, and he was being held in a county jail on a $150,000 bail. The police declined to comment about the motive behind the attack.
Records show that Mr. Groft has had several run-ins with the law, including charges of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and vandalism.
In 2023, Mr. Groft told The University Times, the student newspaper of California State University, Los Angeles, that he had been experiencing homelessness for several years. Mr. Groft said that he had been offered a shared room through a public program, but declined the offer because he did not want to live with a 'schizophrenic guy.'
It was unclear whether Mr. Groft had a lawyer. The Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Cassy Horton, a co-founder and board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Residents Association, an advocacy group of neighbors, said the felled trees have become a rallying cry to call attention to downtown's needs.
'It's not just a neighborhood where people go home at 5,' Ms. Horton said. 'To have something like that taken away, when it's so hard for us to move the needle already to improve the neighborhood, I think really hurt people, and it felt very senseless.'
Ysabel Jurado, a city councilwoman who represents downtown, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday that two trees would replace each one that was cut down, thanks to the help of nonprofits in the area.
'For many of our DTLA residents, the public right of way is their front yard, so the loss of these trees is personal,' Ms. Jurado said in a statement.
Among the trees that were damaged were three Chinese elms and one ficus tree on Grand Avenue, along with another ficus tree, one sycamore and one palm, according to the city's street services department, StreetsLA.
Ms. Horton, who has lived downtown for three years and has worked there since 2009, said she has seen the trajectory of the area go from bustling with foot traffic to being 'gutted' during the height of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.
Since that time, downtown Los Angeles has slowly come back to life. Tourists regularly visit to take rides up the Angels Flight Railway, two funiculars that carry people up a steep slope in the Bunker Hill area. Others stop at the bars and restaurants on their way to a concert or a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena on the west side of downtown.
'It is the place that people come after the Dodgers win,' Ms. Horton said. 'It's the place that people come to protest new policies from the Trump administration. It is our natural convening place.'
Claudia Oliveira, the chief executive and president of the Downtown Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, said the episode 'struck a nerve' there because residents have already had to contend with so many other issues.
'A person should not be walking around with a chain saw,' Ms. Oliveira said. 'That's not normal.'
Nathan Hochman, the Los Angeles County district attorney, said on Thursday that Mr. Groft had been charged with eight felony counts of vandalism. Mr. Groft could face additional charges as investigators gather more evidence.
'What took years to grow only took minutes to destroy,' Mr. Hochman said in a statement, adding that his office will prosecute 'anyone who engages in such criminal conduct to the fullest extent of the law.'
If convicted, Mr. Groft could face more than six years in prison.
Even after the arrest, the experience has been unnerving for many.
'What could be a tree today can be a person tomorrow,' Ms. Oliveira said. 'It's scary.'