KING CASE AFTERMATH: A CITY IN CRISIS : Many People’s View of the Carnage Is in Their Rearview Mirrors

In the days following the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial, there has been white flight from affluent Los Angeles neighborhoods--temporary escape to hotels and campgrounds in the desert, on the ocean and in the mountains.

Many hotels in Southern California report that they have been deluged with calls from Los Angeles residents seeking refuge from the unrest. On Thursday night, highways leading out of town were jammed with cars, smoke from the multitude of fires in their rearview mirrors.

On the Westside and in Hollywood and Pasadena, a number of residents who stayed were holed up in their houses, leaving only during daylight hours to wait in interminable lines for food or gas.

Early Friday afternoon at Gelson’s market near Century City, people waited more than two hours in grocery lines and shouted at each other in parking lots while competing for the few available grocery carts.

Many Westside gas stations closed because they had sold all their gas to frightened residents. At several automobile dealerships, salesmen, fearful of looters, cleared showrooms of cars and hid them in back storage lots.

Meanwhile, many South Los Angeles residents, without the resources to leave, were stuck in an environment where daily survival was difficult, where grocery stores were burning, shops looted and gas stations boarded up.

“This city’s turning into a place with two classes of people: Those who can afford to leave town and those who can’t,” said Aubrey Harris, a member of the Parents of Watts group. “The difference between rich and poor folks in this city is there for all to see during the last few days.”

During the Watts riots in 1965, white residents were frightened that the unrest would spill into the Westside. Many bought guns or barricaded their homes, but that rioting never spread to other parts of the city--unlike this week’s unrest.

“When the fires reached Fairfax, everybody’s fears had become a reality: The riots reached the Westside,” said Walt Meyer, manager of Beverly Hills Cadillac, whose salesmen emptied the dealership’s showroom floor. “We all said, ‘Wow, that’s only 10 minutes from us.’ ”

If what happened after the Watts riots is any indication, many frightened people could begin abandoning the city for good. The impact of this week’s unrest could be greater than that of the Watts riots, said Kurt Meyer, a former chairman of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

“White flight has been going on for a long time in Los Angeles . . . these riots will only accelerate it,” said Meyer, now head of the board of trustees for Southern California Institute of Architecture. “Because these riots cover such a large area, it will affect a lot of people . . ., and those affluent enough may well begin choosing to live in another area.”

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in Portland, a favorite relocation destination for Californians, is expecting an increase in inquiries from Los Angeles residents, a spokesman said. On Friday, one caller said she intended to leave Los Angeles as soon as possible.

“If you think I’m staying here, you’re crazy,” the woman told a chamber operator. “I’m outta here.”

Paul Rote of Culver City is one of those who has gathered up his family and headed past the city limits. The family is spending the weekend with relatives in Santa Barbara to avoid the unrest, but Rote and his wife are considering moving out of Southern California for good.

“We’ve been thinking of leaving for awhile . . ., but this may have pushed us over the edge,” said Rote, who left Thursday afternoon with his wife and two children. “The city’s burning down, people are shooting at each other . . . what more do I need to see?”

On Thursday night, as Rote headed out of town, the northbound San Diego Freeway was packed with “yuppies heading for the tall grass,” he said. Jeep Cherokees, mini-vans and station wagons were piled high with suitcases, children were strapped to safety seats, he said.

“I felt I had two choices: Arm myself or get out of town,” said Bruce Fishelman, a Beverly Hills attorney who checked into the Casa Malibu motel on Thursday night with his wife and three children. “I come from New Jersey and saw the Newark riots in 1967 where they were parking tanks on front lawns. I didn’t want my son to live through that kind of thing.”

At the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, reservation clerks were receiving about 50 calls every five minutes on Friday morning, mostly from panicked Los Angeles residents from affluent neighborhoods, said Kevin Ching.

“People are checking in with all kinds of wild stories,” Ching said. “One guy said he was in the city and people started throwing stuff at him. Another said he had to run a red light to get out. A lot were just scared from the smoke and the chaos.”

At the Biltmore and Sheraton Hotels in Santa Barbara, the last available rooms were taken by Los Angeles residents fleeing the city. In Ventura, a clerk at the Holiday Inn said, “just about every reservation I’ve had has been from L. A. and the Valley.”

“One guy just took off from Los Angeles and called from a pay phone in Oxnard,” the clerk said. “He said straight out: “ ‘It’s better to be here than there.’ ”

Other hotels reported numerous cancellations by people who said they had decided to hole up in their houses rather than risk life and limb by leaving. This bunker mentality seemed pervasive in some Westside neighborhoods.

Earle Graham, a manager for Westec Security Inc., said some Westside homeowners have asked for armed guards in their driveways, something the firm cannot provide. “We are stretched out entirely,” he said.

At Gelson’s Market in Century City, a mecca for fashionable foods, assistant manager Jerry Stender surveyed checkout lines that snaked halfway down some grocery aisles. Business volume, he estimated, was five times that of a normal Friday afternoon.

“It’s a lot of panic buying,” he explained, saying the store would close at 5 p.m, five hours earlier than usual.

Some customers complained that they had to wait half an hour outside before they were allowed in the store. The bread shelves were practically swept empty by frantic shoppers, and butchers seemed unable to keep up with the call for well-trimmed meats.

Pushing a nearly filled cart, Beverly Hills resident Joseph Gabbaian said his wife had shopped heavily Thursday night. But he said he came back for extra supplies Friday to get through the weekend.

“You’ve got to be prepared. Just in case,” he said, pointing to the apple juice bottles and milk containers he was buying for his two children.

Entrance to the Gelson’s parking structure was free, which is unusual in Century City. But security guards patrolled atop the garage facing Santa Monica Boulevard.

In many Westside shopping districts, there was an eerie calm Friday. Disappointed tourists on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills peered through the darkened windows and locked doors of expensive boutiques and galleries. The fancy furniture, carpet and design stores on Robertson Boulevard between 3rd Street and Wilshire Boulevard were almost all shuttered.

Down the block, employees were putting up plastic cones to block entrances to the Union 76 gas station at the corner of 3rd and Robertson. It was closing until next week.

“We’re out of gas,” the manager said. Earlier in the day, as many as 15 cars waited to fill up at each of the station’s islands of pumps, he said. The station’s underground tanks can hold 24,000 gallons, but were virtually emptied, he said.

Many other Westside stations were closed by 3 p.m. Friday, and there were some reports that gasoline prices were rising rapidly.

Beverly Hills Transfer and Storage Co. has received calls from frightened Westside business people who want their important records and documents taken to what they think will be more secure spots, salesman Roger Hilleary said Friday. Company representatives sold extra packing cartons during the past few days and have given advice about protecting valuables.

The Bel-Air Patrol, a security company that serves affluent communities from Pacific Palisades to West Hollywood, reported many requests from homeowners and business people for closer watching. The company and others say they do not have enough armed guards to meet the demand from shopkeepers seeking to deter looting.

Also, the number of people asking for tests of their alarm systems has “increased dramatically.”

In stark contrast, citizens of South Los Angeles have to rely on the Police Department for their security, or the National Guard.

“In some ways, I think it’s unfair to have all these private patrols and these weekend vacations,” said Aubrey Harris of Mothers of Watts. “But, I got to tell you, if a lot of people down here had the money, they might grab their kids and head out of town, too.”