A day after police arrested five students from a USC fraternity on suspicion of stealing plants and statues from an Alhambra neighborhood to use as party decor, a group of fellow students announced plans to replace the allegedly pilfered ornaments.
A neighbor reported seeing young men shearing off the tops of palm trees and helping themselves to five garden statues shortly after 1 a.m. in the 300 block of South Almansor Street, Alhambra police Sgt. Jerry Johnson said. The statues depicted ducks, a cat and Buddha, Alhambra police Sgt. Jerry Johnson said.
Police soon stopped a pickup truck containing the items, as well as five members of USC’s Sigma Nu fraternity.
Officers arrested Dylan Walter, 19, Miles Horton, 18, Graham Vines, 18, Darshan Patel, 18, and Eyobed Mesfun, 19, on suspicion of theft and conspiracy to commit theft.
A group of seven USC fraternities banded together and released a statement Thursday to denouncing the alleged theft and promising to repair the affected neighborhood.
“Right now, we all look bad. But we are going to show the families of Alhambra that this is not what we are about,” Tau Kappa Epsilon President Joe Mallick said.
Members of the Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Xi, Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, Alpha Gamma Omega, Pi Kappa and Sigma Alpha Mu planned to buy plants and decorations to replace the ones involved in Wednesday’s incident and deliver them to Almansor Street, the statement said.
Tau Kappa Epsilon Educator Andrew Sanford said actions speak louder than words.
When visiting the Alhambra neighborhood, “We are going to wear USC shirts. We want everyone to know that Trojans believe in service to others. And we want to show that when some of our own make a mistake, we are there to make it right.”
All five suspects were released from jail Wednesday pending their initial court appearances after posting $20,000 bail each, according to Los Angeles County booking records.