LOS ANGELES (CNS) — City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Monday his office has filed a lawsuit to shut down a nightclub that was allegedly operating illegally out of a storefront in the Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feuer alleged the club has been the site of shootings, assaults and other criminal activity while operating in violation of the mandated closures due to COVID-19.
The club, advertised on social media as "L.A. Party Society," was accessible via the alleyway on Main Street between 11th and 12th streets, according to the lawsuit.
"When it comes to clubs, irrespective of their specific locations in the city, I want to say that if our office is referred any matter about which there could be a potentially unlawful gathering at an indoor location like one of these clubs, we're going to go after them," Feuer said, adding there is a "statewide concern" about illegal nightclubs operating amid the pandemic.
Nightclubs and other social establishments are currently barred from operating in Los Angeles County due to the region's COVID-19 case surge, and the Fashion District club lacks the proper permits to operate even if those restrictions were to be lifted, Feuer said.
Feuer said the nightclub was advertised on social media as as a "secret" nightclub. A giant mural of a party is painted on the wall in front of the parking lot of the building, he said.
The defendants in the case are Frontier Holdings LLC and Regal Group LLC. According to Feuer, both of those companies have an ownership interest in the property where the nightclub was held, and they are managed by David Taban, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
Taban, a real estate investor with dozens of properties in his portfolio, is currently being prosecuted in two separate criminal cases, one of which is tied to the alleged operation of an illegal marijuana dispensary next door to the club, Feuer said.
Another named defendant is Yves Oscar Jr., a tenant and alleged operator of L.A. Party Society, who also could not immediately be reached.
Oscar was arrested in August in front of the club on an outstanding warrant tied to an alleged sexual assault, according to Feuer's office. During his arrest, more than one pound of marijuana was allegedly found in Oscar's backpack, according to the city attorney.
"We allege this club is a hub of violence and crime that spills out into the street and puts everyone in the Fashion District at risk, and we're stopping it now," Feuer said. "Beyond the bullets, assaults and criminal activity, packing people into an unlicensed nightclub during the pandemic is the height of irresponsibility."
The city attorney said that in September, a security guard for the club was shot outside the building, and in August there were multiple alleged instances of assaults, illegal drug activity, armed robberies and other illicit activity.
"We want to prevent the defendant from using this property in the future for a nightclub or any other unlawful purpose, and we're seeking civil penalties and fees from the defendants," Feuer said.
Feuer said his office and the Los Angeles Police Department have been working together to possibly shut off the utilities to the location, but no one has been arrested or criminally charged as a result of the allegations outlined in the civil case.