By City News Service
Dec 31, 2020
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - More than 200 people were arrested during a monthlong crackdown on “underground parties held in violation of COVID-19 health protocols, sheriff officials said today.
The parties took place throughout the county, in areas such as Palmdale, downtown Los Angeles and Compton. In total, the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department made 235 arrests and recovered seven illegal firearms, according to the agency.
Deputies began targeting the events earlier this month amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The monthlong operation included an earlier announced raid on a Dec. 5 house party at a rental home in the 6300 block of West Avenue M8 in Palmdale, where deputies arrested 158 people and seized six firearms. A 17-year-old human trafficking victim was also rescued during the event, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said earlier.
The first gathering that weekend took place in the 400 block of South Hewitt Street, near Alameda Street, in downtown Los Angeles, where, just before law enforcement officers arrived, a shooting occurred and a 25-year-old man was killed, sheriff s officials said.
A 25-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man were struck by bullets and hospitalized, according to Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the shooting.
Deputies responded to a second party about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 20 at 1916 E. Rosecrans Ave., near North Willowbrook Avenue, in Compton where announcements were made and the location was secured, Deputy Joana Warren of the sheriff s department said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department will begin cracking down on super-spreader events, Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced Thursday afternoon amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The party was shut down by the LAPD after a shooting in the area, she said. One person was shot, but additional details on the shooting were not immediately released.
Among the arrests were 60 adults and six juveniles accused of misdemeanors, according to Warren. Another adult was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. Deputies found evidence of illegal use of nitrous oxide at a party, she said.
The sheriff s department deployed various specialized units to monitor and respond to the parties, including its Human Trafficking Task Force, Operation Safe Streets Bureau, Fraud and Cyber Crime Bureau, Aero Bureau and the Sheriff s Response Team, which performs crowd control operations and mass arrests.