Inglewood Checks for Permit Violation in Fatal Hotel Party : Crime: Guests paid $5 each to attend party in which rap musician was killed. City officials say security is required when admission is charged.

Inglewood city officials are trying to determine if a weekend hotel party that turned violent and left one party-goer dead violated city ordinances because organizers lacked a city permit required for events charging an admission fee.

Party-goers said in interviews that they paid $5 each to get into the party, which attracted hundreds of revelers Friday night and ended the next morning with numerous injuries and the death of a 22-year-old Los Angeles rap singer who was struck by a car.

Six people were arrested on suspicion of murder Saturday, but all were released pending further investigation.

Assistant City Manager Norman Cravens said the party needed a city permit if an admission fee was charged. That permit would have spelled out security requirements for the party.

Hotel manager Kay Hong said Wednesday that she knew nothing about the $5 admission fee and thought the gathering was going to be a 30th birthday party, which is what the couple who rented the room Aug. 17 had told hotel employees.

Hong said she plans to screen organizers of future parties more closely and require them to hire off-duty police officers as security guards.

Previous incidents of violence have been reported at the hotel, including a fatal shooting in the parking lot last month and a 1988 melee that ended when officers forcibly broke up a dance party.

Last weekend’s party, which featured performances by rap musicians, attracted more than 300 guests. A dispute over who could use the microphone grew into a brawl in the hotel lobby and parking lot and eventually resulted in gunfire.

An autopsy completed Wednesday found that Roderick Williams, 22, of Los Angeles died from injuries suffered when he was struck by a car near the hotel entrance during the melee. Williams, whose nickname was “Wayout,” was a member of a local rap group, said Inglewood homicide Detective Russell Enyeart.

Two security officers were at the hotel when the fighting broke out at about 2 a.m. Later, more than 200 officers from several police agencies were called in. They included SWAT team members from the Inglewood police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, some of whom were dropped onto the hotel roof by helicopter.

Hong defended the hotel’s record, saying the violence is a by-product of the neighborhood. The hotel is on South Prairie Avenue between the Forum and Hollywood Park.

“We can . . . try to prevent the problem,” Hong said. “That doesn’t mean we will have total control. We are just sitting in a hot spot.”

In the future, Hong said, if she suspects problems after screening future customers, she will require them to pay for added security as part of the agreement.

Police said the birthday party was held by a number of local rappers for a man nicknamed “Triple R,” whom investigators are still trying to identify. Printed invitations for the gathering, held in the hotel’s Jockey Room, said the $5-a-head party would run from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

The rap party saw the second outbreak of violence in two weeks at the hotel, which became a franchise of the Atlanta-based Days Inns of America last year.

On Aug. 25, an 18-year-old man leaving a birthday party for a 16-year-old girl at the hotel was shot to death outside the facility by suspected gang members, police said.

Although Hong said the shooting was not related to the birthday party, police said the shots that killed Terrance Ferris of Los Angeles were fired by a man in the parking lot of the hotel.

In 1988, when Inglewood police were called to break up another hotel party, officers took the microphone and attempted to send the guests home. People began shouting: “Hell, no, we won’t go.”

The crowd was eventually dispersed, but some party-goers alleged later that they were injured by police, sheriff’s deputies and hotel security guards. In January, the city settled claims filed by nine plaintiffs for $15,750. The Sheriff’s Department and the hotel were also defendants in the case, although it could not be learned if they settled as well.

The 10-story hotel, which has 135 employees and about 390 rooms, is owned by Charles Lee of Lee Hotel Inc. Before becoming a Days Inn franchise last May, it was called the Airport Park Hotel.

Hong said hotel business has fallen dramatically since the rap party. She said she is trying to boost the morale of employees who were shaken by the turmoil.