Authorities say nearly 160 people were arrested during the weekend at an illegal party in Los Angeles County, where coronavirus cases are surging and gatherings are banned
The Saturday night raid on a location in the high desert city of Palmdale came after Sheriff Alex Villanueva vowed to crack down on “super-spreader events.”
Villanueva planned to discuss details of the law enforcement action at a press conference Tuesday.
A statement from the sheriff’s office said 158 people were arrested.
“These types of parties typically involve drugs, alcohol, weapons, minors, and prostitution,” the statement said. “Additionally, this criminal behavior is occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
KTTV Fox 11 first reported the party and arrests.
“It was what we call a super-spreader for COVID,” Sheriff’s Lt. Paul Zarris told KTTV.
Zarris told the TV station that deputies received intelligence about the party and the people inside were not wearing masks. Sheriff’s officials said they want to send a message to other potential party promoters and attendees.
“We just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen, especially in our area, we’ll let them know that this is not acceptable,” Zarris said.
Villanueva has said his deputies would focus education and voluntary compliance for county and state health orders.
The sheriff said his department would not enforce the orders at struggling businesses and instead target super-spreader events like mass gatherings.
