No charges to be filed in loud Kardashian fireworks show off Marina del Rey
No charges will be filed after a midweek summer fireworks show thrown by Khloe Kardashian off Marina del Rey startled and angered Westside residents.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to file disturbing-the-peace charges against pyrotechnics operator Steven Jeffries because it found no wrongdoing. The fireworks display was permitted and monitored, prosecutors said.
In documents declining the charges, prosecutors said, “despite the community inconvenience, it would be problematic to hold the suspect criminally liable for consequences of Fire Department permitted/monitored conduct.”
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Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives presented evidence to prosecutors following the late-night fireworks show for NBA star James Harden’s 26th birthday party on a boat off the marina.
Prosecutors said fewer than 30 residents called deputies to complain about the eight-minute show, while another caller told them she enjoyed the fireworks.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department had issued a permit to the fireworks company, allowing the display to go on, prosecutors said. A fire captain was at the site that night and monitored the display.
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FOR THE RECORD
Oct. 5, 7:35 a.m.: An earlier version of this article said the Los Angeles Fire Department issued a permit. The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued it.
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The Coast Guard said that because the event occurred in open water about a mile from the marina, a permit was not required. The show also passed a safety checklist, officials said.
Jeffries called and reminded deputies about the event in advance, prosecutors said.
Although fire and marine officials knew about the fireworks in advance, residents said they were never notified about the show.
Then around midnight Aug. 26, residents got a rude awakening. Children were roused and dogs were left shaken.
The fireworks could be seen from as far away as Venice and heard in Redondo Beach.
In September, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered Fire Chief Daryl Osby to come up with a plan for similar events from happening again.
Osby was given a one-month deadline to report back with “a corrective action plan to ensure that an event, like the private, permitted fireworks show in Marina del Rey that occurred very late on a weeknight in an area impacting many residents, is not repeated.”
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