Probe of Staples Melee Ordered

By MITCHELL LANDSBERG and JOHNATHON E. BRIGGS

June 21, 2000 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Mayor Richard Riordan on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the melee that followed the Lakers’ NBA championship victory, but said he was confident that police could prevent any similar outbreaks of violence during the Democratic National Convention in August.

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks echoed the mayor, saying he was satisfied with his department’s handling of the unruly crowd outside Staples Center on Monday night, and that he is convinced it did not offer a frightening preview of what Vice President Al Gore and his party can expect this summer.

Privately, Democratic officials may have shuddered along with millions of other TV viewers when they saw coverage of a jubilant mob running amok through the blocks surrounding Staples, leaving a trail of burned cars, smashed windows and uprooted trees in the spot where Gore plans to accept the Democrats’ presidential nomination.

Publicly, party officials insisted there was nothing to worry about--in part because the Los Angeles Police Department will be joined in August by federal and state law enforcement officials with decades of experience in convention security.

“We are confident that the joint law enforcement team comprised of federal, state and local agencies will effectively manage all of the security issues surrounding our convention,” convention spokesman Peter Ragone said, stressing the word “joint.”

In fact, despite the ugly images of fans torching police cars and looting businesses with seeming impunity, most city officials seemed to rally around the LAPD and praise its relatively restrained handling of the disturbance. Police made only 11 arrests outside the arena Monday night, and seemed to be going out of their way to avoid provoking the incendiary crowd. For the most part, officers stood back and watched while young men, many wearing Laker jerseys and shouting the praises of their heroes, set fire to vehicles, including two LAPD patrol cars, and threw trash cans and road construction barricades through the windows of nearby businesses.

“Most of us thought the response was excellent,” City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, a frequent critic of the LAPD, said during a council discussion of the unrest. Compared with outbursts in other cities after sports championship victories, “we did better,” she said.

Confidence About August Convention

At a morning news conference, Riordan stressed that the circumstances surrounding Monday night’s game bore little resemblance to what police will encounter in August.

“Last night was essentially a spontaneous event,” the mayor said. “The [Democratic convention] will be a very disciplined, well-handled, businesslike event. The controlled areas around Staples will be much larger than last night, and anybody who wants to get into those controlled areas will have to have credentials. I’m not saying we can’t learn something from last night, but I am saying that they are very different events. I am highly confident that we will do the best job in security of any convention in history.”

Riordan ordered Parks, Fire Chief William Bamattre and Department of Transportation Manager Frances T. Banerjee to look into the handling of the postgame melee and report to him before the convention.

“We need to learn the lessons of last night also so we will have an outstanding and safe Democratic National Convention in August,” the mayor said.

Law enforcement officials have been planning for the convention for the last year. Unlike Monday night, when thousands of fans were allowed to congregate in front of Staples--in fact, were encouraged to do so by the presence of a giant-screen television monitor carrying coverage of the game--police plan to seal off a large area surrounding Staples during the convention and allow only those with credentials to enter.

Their challenge will differ from that posed Monday night, however, in that the potential for trouble lies not in spontaneous outbursts of misdirected joy but in well-planned protests specifically designed to foil their best-laid plans.

Monday’s out-of-control celebration caused $500,000 to $750,000 in damage to businesses in the area immediately surrounding Staples, according to Ashod Mooradian, executive director of the Figueroa Street Partnership, a business improvement district that encompasses the area hardest hit by the disturbance. At least 74 vehicles at seven car dealerships were damaged.

“Where were the police?” asked Stephen E. Auth, president of Kaiser Bros. Oldsmobile, which was damaged by the rampaging crowd. “I’m disappointed.”

At Prestige Products auto accessories, where windows were shattered, manager Mike Rice said: “My concern is the lack of forethought by police.”

Trash, burning rubbish, newspaper stands and remnants of burned vehicles littered the streets Tuesday morning. It appeared as if fans had taken anything that wasn’t nailed down and thrown it into the street. At one intersection, fans had toppled a soft drink machine in the middle of the road. Others hurled metal trash cans and road construction barricades through storefront windows.

During the night, the acrid smell of smoke and burning rubber wafted through the streets from smoldering piles of trash. Amid it all, celebratory fans continued to walk and cruise the streets honking their horns, cheering for the Lakers and waving purple and yellow banners.

Vandals also destroyed trees, tearing branches off to break windows with or to use as fuel for their fires, which numbered about 20. Many of the trash bin and street fires were allowed to simply burn out, said Los Angeles Fire Capt. Steve Ruda.

“We weren’t going to risk officers getting hurt to stop a blaze that wasn’t going anywhere,” he said. “There was definitely a mob mentality out there.”

As they tried to get away, drivers crushed glass and plastic under their wheels and sometimes had to swerve to avoid bus benches and other obstacles.

Remarkably, only about a dozen people were injured in the melee, and none seriously. Of 11 people arrested, eight were charged with misdemeanors. As Riordan, Parks and others noted, the outburst paled compared to deadly riots that have broken out in other cities that have won major sports championships.

In 1990, seven people died and hundreds were hurt in Detroit in violence that followed the Pistons’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA championships. Two years later, about 200 people were injured and hundreds of vehicles were damaged in Chicago after the Bulls beat the Blazers for the championship.

Similar disturbances have followed victories in the Super Bowl, the World Series and, in Canada, hockey’s Stanley Cup championships.

Officials Praise Police Response

Kent Smith, executive director of the downtown fashion district’s business improvement group, said he came to Los Angeles from Vancouver, Canada, where police were criticized for being overly aggressive in response to rioting that followed the Vancouver Canucks’ loss in the Stanley Cup championship in 1994.

After watching the LAPD on Monday, he said: “They took their time. They let the crowd vent their frustrations. . . . It’s obviously a tough call whether that was the right response . . . but if you go in there with a heavy hand, it could really incite the crowd.”

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Staples Center President Tim Leiweke said he had “great respect” for the LAPD’s response to Monday night’s rampage. He defended the decision to televise the game outside the arena. “This was not an incident that revolved around the JumboTron,” he said. “This was an incident where we had hooligans and they are coming down here regardless, because this was a focal point.”

Staples Center officials said they are expecting up to 250,000 people to turn out today for a parade to honor the Lakers. Law enforcement officials said there will be up to 1,000 officers from the LAPD, the city Fire Department and private security teams along the parade route.

Riordan insisted that the parade will be held despite Monday’s disturbance.

“Last night, we all witnessed pride and shame, winners and losers,” the mayor said. “It was with shame and anger that we saw, not Laker fans, but a few hundred hoodlums trying to spoil our celebration. These are not fans. They are losers who only know how to trash our city. They are vandals. We are not going to let a few hundred vandals spoil a glorious celebration for millions of Angelenos. Plans are moving forward rapidly to have a great parade . . . so that Los Angeles can congratulate our Lakers on their incredible season and their championship trophy.”

And the Lakers are doing what they can to help Angelenos put those few hours of destructive rowdiness behind them.

Star center Shaquille O’Neal has promised to buy a new squad car for the LAPD, and the team as a whole and Staples Center will split the costs of replacing the second destroyed police car, team spokesman John Black said Tuesday.

O’Neal actually wanted to buy both cars but was persuaded to let the team pay for one.

“He didn’t want anything to mar the celebration and the good feeling in the city,” Black said.

Times staff writers Elise Gee, Jeffrey Gettleman and Peter Y. Hong also contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Fan Violence

Some of the incidents of fan violence after pro teams won a championship:

City: S.F.

Sport: Football

Year: 1985

Arrests: 184

Summary: Bonfires, rock-throwing

City: Montreal