5 in L.A. charged in illegal parties

A skateboarding superstar is among five people Los Angeles prosecutors have charged with organizing parties that were possible superspreader events at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nyjah Huston, a fourtime world skateboarding champion, and Edward Essa, the owner of a home in the Fairfax District where authorities say parties have been repeatedly shut down by police since last fall, are among those charged.

After the latest party last month, Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered the L.A. Department of Water and Power to cut off electric service to the home in the 800 block of North Curson Avenue. Huston and Essa are both charged with creating a nuisance, a misdemeanor. Neither could be reached for comment Friday.

Three other people face similar charges in unrelated cases, allegedly involving a secret New Year’s Eve banquet in downtown L.A. and frequent gatherings behind covered windows at another Fairfax nightspot.

Mike Feuer, the city attorney who acts as L.A.’s top prosecutor, said the coronavirus has dramatically changed the lives of Angelenos, but some have refused to change their behavior.

“During this crisis, my office has held those individuals and businesses who have had large indoor gatherings, violating important public health and safety orders, accountable.” he said. Those charged, he said, are “connected to properties where we allege that large indoor parties were held in violation of public health orders.”

It is the latest crackdown on the worst violations of emergency orders that seek to limit the spread of the virus, targeting a party scene driven in part by social media creators who make money by providing entertainment for the maskless mass gatherings.

“During the pandemic, this enforcement is particularly important because party houses can produce superspreader events that jeopardize public health. We’re taking the steps to shut them down,” Feuer added.