Hotel--Site of Fatal Party--Is Given Warning

The Inglewood city attorney’s office has sent a sharply worded letter to the hotel where a party erupted in violence earlier this month, threatening prosecution if hotel officials do not comply with occupancy limits or get city permits for future gatherings.

Officials are still investigating whether the Days Inn Park Plaza Hotel on South Prairie Avenue violated city law by failing to get a permit for the Sept. 1 party that left one guest dead and several injured. However, city officials said, several discrepancies in the Days Inn booking process may have contributed to the outbreak of violence.

City officials said organizers of the party had not filled in or signed the part of the rental agreement asking that maximum attendance be stated. They also said that the violence broke out after the 1:30 a.m. completion time noted on the contract and that attendance was well beyond the 80-person capacity of the party room.

The Sept. 1 party was organized as a $5-a-head birthday celebration featuring several local rap artists, according to police. The crowd had swelled to more than 300 people at about 2 a.m. Saturday, when a dispute over use of the microphone led to bottle-throwing, fighting and gunfire.

Reacting to the incident, Mayor Edward Vincent called a meeting for Oct. 1 with all operators of major hotels and other party facilities in the city.

“It’s time to let the rest know that this slipshod way of doing business will not be tolerated in Inglewood, especially when human lives are at stake,” Vincent said in a statement.

In an interview, he said rap concerts in particular should be closely monitored because of their tendency to lead to violence.

“I don’t want any rap things here unless it’s closely supervised,” Vincent said. “It’s not the rapper that’s the problem, but the people that it draws.”

The mayor expressed anger at hotel manager Kay Hong’s comment, reported in The Times, that part of the reason for the violence was the hotel’s neighborhood, which she called a “hot spot.” Vincent said the police investigation has found that the party-goers were from other areas, including Chino, Dana Point, Compton and East Los Angeles.

Hong said Thursday that the hotel is working diligently to prevent future outbreaks, even though they may be beyond the hotel’s control. She said she has been working with the city Fire Department, which has begun nightly checks of the hotel for possible code violations, and plans to screen organizers of future parties more closely and require them to pay for security.

Hong said Vincent’s criticisms of the hotel show he does not have a clear picture of the incident and is basing his information on rumors.

She said she has already turned down requests for parties at the facility, even though it is hurting business.

Councilman Garland Hardeman, whose district includes the hotel, said he supports the mayor’s meeting of hotel operators but believes the city should not portray the Days Inn, the city’s largest hotel, as an adversary. Hardeman said he will attempt to assist the hotel in booking business events so it does not have to rely on private parties.

When the birthday party turned violent, more than 200 officers from several police agencies were called in to conduct a room-by-room search of the 10-story hotel. Roderick Williams, a 22-year-old Los Angeles rap musician, died after he was struck by a car in the hotel parking lot during the melee.

Police arrested six men after the party on suspicion of murder but later released them all. The investigative report of the incident, which includes interviews with more than 300 people, has been turned over to the district attorney’s office for review.

Charles Lee, the head of Lee Hotel Inc., said Wednesday that he sold the hotel to Days Inn in 1989 after owning it for several years and has nothing more to do with it. However, Hong identified Lee as the owner, and a Days Inn spokeswoman said the hotel is owned by a private party, whom she declined to name.