LOS ANGELES (AP) – A world skateboarding champion is among five Southern California prosecutors hired to organize parties that were possible super-spreader events amid the pandemic.
Nyjah Huston, a four-time world skateboarding champion, and Edward Essa, the owner of a house in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles, hosted a party of at least 40 people last month that was closed after receiving a complaint from police. At least two other parties were held at home last fall, authorities said.
Huston and Essa were both accused of causing a nuisance, an offense. No one could be reached for comment, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.
The January 9 party came as coronavirus cases rose at an unprecedented rate after the holidays. The hospitals had exhausted their bed capacity in the intensive care unit, and officials constantly urged residents not to gather in large groups.
The officials had previously stopped events in the apartment on September 12, 13 and October 17 and warned residents that large gatherings were against the mayor’s public order.
After the January party, Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered the LA Department of Water and Power to cut power to the house on the 800 block on North Curson Avenue.
Three other people face similar charges on unrelated cases, allegedly over a secret New Year’s Eve banquet at Salon Oaxaca in downtown Los Angeles and frequent gatherings behind covered windows on the Hidden River, a Fairfax hotspot.
Mike Feuer, the city attorney who serves as LA’s chief attorney, said the coronavirus has changed residents’ lives dramatically, but some have refused to change their behavior.
“During this crisis, my office held accountable individuals and companies who held large indoor gatherings and violated important public health and safety regulations.” he said. The defendants, he said, are “connected to properties where we claim large parties were held indoors in violation of public health regulations”.
California’s virus cases, infection rates, and hospital stays have all plummeted after reaching record highs in early January.
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