The global manhunt for an Echo Park litterbug

Good morning. It’s Friday, July 31st. You can expect the first day of another weekend-long heat wave — an Extreme Heat Warning runs from this morning to Sunday night, with temperatures potentially clearing 100 in parts of the county.

Colton Street, which stretches for just half a mile in the Echo Park-Westlake borderlands, is not a natural object for the attention of the world. Yes, it is home to the Echo Park Indoor Pool and the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, and yes, there’s a little back entrance to Vista Hermosa Park. But none of those were the reason it became internationally famous this month.

Instead, Colton Street has earned global notoriety because someone has been dumping their used Chick-fil-A cups on it — sparking a massive online manhunt for the litter committer until, a few days ago, it was abruptly called off.

The affair began last week with a TikTok from @oddbry, a frustrated resident of the neighborhood. “If your name is Lexi and you drive a blue sedan, and you drive up and down Colton Street in L.A., this video is for you,” it began. “First question: How much money do you spend per month on Chick-fil-a? Second question: Have you heard of a trash can?”

Someone, @oddbry elaborated, had regularly been dumping “ungodly” amounts of Chick-fil-A detritus on the block. The post included a video clip of the crime scene — disposable fast food containers, mostly drinks and drink holders, scattered along about 100 feet of sidewalk. It was viewed more than a million times.

Based on receipts stapled to discarded bags and an envelope found among the detritus, @oddbry and other Colton Street neighbors had determined that the suspect went by “Lexi” or “Lexy.”

Now the Internet had a name.