Los Angeles County officials arrested nearly 200 people on Saturday including attendees of a ‘swinger’s party’ in a warehouse decked out with beds and dancer poles, in a massive crackdown on underground ‘superspreader’ events.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Superspreader Task Force arrested 182 adults at two commercial locations for breaking state lockdown orders on Saturday amid surging COVID-19 cases.
The crackdown comes as California continues to be a coronavirus hotspot with more than 2.7million COVID cases and over 30,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. In Los Angeles County alone there are 932,697 virus cases and a person dies every eight minutes from COVID.
The task force was alerted about an adults-only ‘swinger’s party’ on 61st Street in South Central where middle-aged guests partied without a care, dressed to the nines in heels, dresses and suits.
Officers busted the event by shouting on speakers from their squad cars, ‘The party’s over!’
What pandemic? Los Angeles County officials arrested nearly 200 people on Saturday including attendees of a ‘swinger’s party’ in a warehouse decked out with beds and dancer poles, in a massive crackdown on underground ‘superspreader’ events. A view of the swinger’s party guests awaiting citations above
Busted! The task force was alerted about an adults-only ‘swinger’s party’ in a warehouse on 61st Street in South Central that was decked out with beds with condoms and dancer poles and where guests partied without a care, dressed to the nines in heels, dresses and suits
Party’s over: Members of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Superspreader Task Force evacuated party attendees at the swinger’s event on Saturday
A view of the busted attendees at the swinger’s party above waiting in line for citations on Saturday
The sheriff’s office shared shocking photos showing long lines of party goers awaiting citations after their underground events were busted on Saturday
A view of people waiting in line to be issued citations by the LA Sheriff’s Department on Saturday
A view inside the swinger’s warehouse party reveals guests didn’t give a second thought towards the coronavirus crisis but cavorted about in beds with condoms, lounge chairs, dance poles and cages placed on pedestals.
The event violated California’s strict lockdown rules under which all citizens are ordered to stay home except for permitted work, local shopping and errands and are discouraged from meeting with other households.
‘Once we confirmed that people were at this location we responded and detained probably close to 200 people,’ Capt. Holly Francisco said to Fox11.
The sheriff’s department said arrests on Saturday were made at two commercial buildings – the swinger party took place in the 600 block of West 61st Street in Vermont-Slauson and the other in the 400 block of West Pico Boulevard in downtown LA.
On Monday the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced they made 182 arrests on Saturday
Fun’s all over: The department’s photos shows dozens of people lined up, some notably without masks, waiting for deputies to issue citations after the parties they attended were busted Saturday
Paying the price: The party goers had to wait in long lines just to get their citations after their events were shut down. Two people were arrested on suspicion of promoting the events, while 180 were arrested for violating health orders, the department said. All of those arrested were cited out
Two people were arrested on suspicion of promoting the events, while 180 were arrested for violating health orders, the department said. All of those arrested were cited out.
Shocking photos shared by the department shows dozens of people lined up, some notably without masks, waiting for deputies to issue citations.
The attendees at the downtown LA party were young, dressed in hoodies, crop tops and casual street clothes whereas the crowd at the swinger’s party was much more upscale and older. Several guests were seen covering up their faces as they ran out of the venue and avoided reporter cameras at the scene.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he’ll take law enforcement action against all underground party events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County.
Inside the swinger’s party: A view inside the warehouse shows premade beds set up with folded towels and several condoms
Inside the warehouse party: The swinger’s party set up included lounging chairs, dancing poles and cages on a pedestal
A view of armed officers shutting down the warehouse party from the inside on Saturday above
Party’s over! In the Saturday crackdown two people were arrested on suspicion of promoting the events, while 180 were arrested for violating health orders, the department said. All of those arrested were cited out
‘The goal of these enforcement actions is to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and the risk to our vulnerable populations,’ the department shared on Twitter.
The department did not offer any further details about the events or the arrests.
The Task Force was formed to enforce the LA County’s health orders.
The Task Forced busted five events on New Year’s Eve, two of which were in LA, one in Hawthorne, Malibu and Pomona. In total 90 adults were arrested and cited out and more than 900 others received warnings, as per KTLA.
The citations come as LA County continues to grapple with rising coronavirus cases and increasing pandemic fatigue.
Now 10 county residents test positive for COVID-19 every single minute and on average one person dies from the virus every eight minutes, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.