Lawsuits Cite Police, Hotel in Death of Man Killed in Inglewood Melee

A year after a hotel party in Inglewood erupted into a melee, a series of recently filed lawsuits accuse city police, the hotel and other defendants of improperly handling the uproar and causing the death of one of the party-goers.

The Sept. 1, 1990, incident at the now-closed Days Inn Park Plaza Hotel began when a rap music party and birthday celebration in the hotel’s ballroom turned into a brawl, with revelers rampaging through the hotel lobby and engaging in a running gun battle. Witnesses said at the time that the party had been crashed by outsiders.

Unsure whether gunmen were hiding in the 390-room hotel, police officers dressed in SWAT gear searched in vain for 8 1/2 hours through the the hotel’s 10 floors. Several suspects were arrested but later released.

Killed in the melee was Roderick C. Williams, 22, of Los Angeles, who died at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital. Several other guests were injured, but not seriously.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last month on behalf of Williams’ mother, Fettie Smith, and sister, Felicia Roberts, said police officers responding to the scene fired into a crowd and killed Williams.

An autopsy report issued shortly after Williams’ death said he sustained a bullet wound but died from injuries suffered when he was hit by a car. But the family’s lawyer, Charles H. Hack of Beverly Hills, said witnesses contend that Williams was struck in the head by a police officer’s bullet before he was hit by the car. Hack said he will exhume Williams’ body if necessary to prove that an officer killed Williams.

Inglewood city and police officials, who have not yet been served with the suit, declined comment.

“I’m surprised that we’re being sued,” City Atty. Howard Rosten said.

Another suit filed earlier this month by Smith and Roberts accused the Days Inn Hotel of negligently managing the party. The hotel provided insufficient security for the event, the suit said, especially considering that a shooting occurred the month before outside another birthday party at the hotel. Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital also is named as a defendant for allegedly failing to disclose to Smith that her son had been hit by a bullet.

A representative for the Days Inn hotel chain said the company had not received a copy of the suit and therefore would not comment. A hospital spokeswoman said the hospital acted properly.

A third suit filed earlier this month against the hotel on behalf of seven party-goers said they were injured during the party because the hotel did not take adequate security precautions.