Rave Promoter Accused of Ruining Sensitive Desert Site

Plans for an illegal rave that could have drawn as many as 50,000 people were shut down Thursday when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man on suspicion of grading and irrigating 100 acres of desert land he did not own in the Antelope Valley, authorities said.

Stanley Edward McCullom, 42, of Quartz Hill, was arrested Thursday morning after a lengthy, multi-agency investigation. He had already installed sod, grass and a sprinkler system on much of the uninhabited land, which is about one mile from the community of Lake Los Angeles, Deputy Steve Harbeson said.

Harbeson said McCullom advertised the rave, which was scheduled for Aug. 18, on a Web site, https://www.b3cande.com. The Web site says the rave’s location will be announced 24 hours before the event.

The site advertises “Jujubeats 2001,” a party with four separate dance areas, deejays from as far away as Puerto Rico, and a list of record stores serving as ticket outlets from San Francisco to San Diego.

Tim Mann, the assistant manager of Costa Mesa’s Music X, one of the record stores selling tickets, said that he had sold about 125 for between $25 and $35 and that he was worried about what was going to happen when his customers showed up for refunds.

Well-known deejay Jason Bentley of KCRW 89.9 FM was scheduled to appear at the rave.

“Well, Jujubeats is established as a very credible rave . . . at least on the street level, so i interpreted their effort at creating this whole venue as definitely on the up and up,” he said. “I was told by the promoter they’d actually purchased the land.”

Sheriff’s deputies said 50,000 tickets to the event had been sold at $30 apiece.

“We’re putting an operation out there next week, because some kids aren’t going to get the word,” Harbeson said. “We could have 30,000 or 40,000 kids show up. We’re just gonna turn ‘em around and say, ‘Hey, leave.’ ”

Deputies said they are aware of a backup location and will be monitoring it on Aug. 18 as well.

Harbeson said McCullom had seriously damaged the land, which, according to the Web site, had been dubbed “McCullum Park.”

“It’s actually an environmentally protected area, a [state] desert conservation area,” Harbeson said. “It was just yuccas and scrub brush, but also home to the desert tortoise and a few other species. He also deflected the natural, normal drainage areas. . . . He’s just about ruined 100 acres.”

Deputies began looking into the matter a few weeks ago, when they noticed a water truck parked in a secluded part of the eastern Antelope Valley, at 140th Street East and Avenue O. As they checked it to see if it was stolen, McCullom approached them, saying he had just purchased 100 acres, was planning on turning the land into a park, and was also planning a party there.

A check with the landowners found that McCullom owned none of it, Harbeson said.

McCullom was charged with felony vandalism--an estimated $33,000 worth of damage was done to the land--and held at the Lancaster station in lieu of $10,000 bail.