TimesOC: Visit Huntington Beach, police spokesperson says, but don’t be destructive and violent

"Sign up for our TimesOC newsletter" and the L.A. Times logo over the Huntington Beach Pier at sunset.
TimesOC, a newsletter about Orange County, is published Wednesdays and Fridays.
(Los Angeles Times)
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Good afternoon and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter.

It’s Wednesday, May 26 and we’re headed into the Memorial Day weekend. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you the latest roundup of Orange County news and events.

Huntington Beach city officials, business owners and volunteers found themselves cleaning up their community this week after a two-night period of partying at the beach led to the arrest of at least 179 people.

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The bulk of those arrests, of 150 adults and juveniles, happened Saturday night after the notorious TikTok event dubbed “Adrian’s kickback” drew about 2,500, many of them visitors to the community from elsewhere in the state. Although the police were braced for an onslaught of people when the TikTok announcement of a 17-year-old’s birthday party went viral, they couldn’t prevent raucous behavior, vandalism and thefts from ensuing. An emergency overnight curfew had to be issued to quell the revelers.

It was noted that Adrian, the teen from the Inland Empire who hadn’t expected such a reaction to his casual invitation to show up in Huntington Beach BYOE (bring your own everything), was not found by police during the pandemonium. There’s a good reason for that: When he realized that his TikTok announcement had attracted far more attention than he expected and that Huntington Beach would be swarmed with people, Adrian opted to move his party to a Los Angeles location.

The new public information officer for the Huntington Beach Police Department, Jennifer Carey, had just started in her role when the chaos took place over the weekend. Despite the harried circumstances during her first few days, she remains upbeat. She does, however, have a word for visitors who might not have the best interests of the area in mind:

“We want people to come to Huntington,” Carey told the Daily Pilot. “We want people to come to the beach, we want people to take advantage of the restaurants and businesses that we have here. We just want them to abide by the laws. We don’t want them to be destructive and violent.”

TikTok birthday invite_LA_thmb
Police declared an unlawful assembly Saturday evening in Huntington Beach after a TikTok video inviting people to a birthday party went viral and the city was overrun with unruly revelers. On Sunday, another unlawful assembly was declared after a crowd began throwing fireworks at officers.
(OnScene TV)

MORE NEWS

— A terse statement was issued from Laguna Beach City Hall on Friday announcing the new police chief, Robert Thompson — who’s only been on the job since mid-January — would be resigning from the post. There would be no further statements made, according to the news release, leaving the reason for his nearly sudden departure up to the public’s imagination.

— Volunteers working on behalf of a partnership between the IKEA store in Costa Mesa and the nonprofit Power of One Foundation to get food into the hands of those in need during the pandemic handed out its final box of groceries earlier this month. It was estimated about 17,600 families were assisted during the 14-month effort.

A May 15 food distribution event at the Costa Mesa IKEA.
Cars line up at a May 15 food distribution event at the Costa Mesa IKEA, the last of a string of giveaways held through a partnership with the nonprofit Power of One Foundation.
(Courtesy of IKEA)

— The hot real estate market continues in Southern California, where overall median home prices soared in April to 20% higher than the same month in 2020. In O.C., median home prices during the same period rose 15.6% to $872,500 and sales climbed 97.2%.

— California is moving forward with a dramatic reopening of the economy on June 15 that will remove nearly all of the pandemic-related restrictions residents have been living with for more than a year. My colleagues Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money take a look at what we can all expect to see within the next few weeks.

— With the pandemic nearly in the rear view mirror, assessments are being made as to how government entities handled the health crisis. A report by the Orange County Grand Jury was recently issued that shows O.C.’s preparations for such an event were lacking and response delayed. My colleague Hannah Fry reports on the grand jury’s findings.

— The city of Huntington Beach raised the LGBTQ rainbow flag at City Hall for the first time in a ceremony Saturday morning. It will fly until the end of June. The City Council recognized June as LGBTQ Pride Month during a meeting on May 3.

SPORTS

Orange County notched a 1-0 victory over Sacramento Republic FC Saturday night, sending the 1,986 in attendance at Irvine’s Championship Soccer Stadium home happy. “It’s great to have fans in the stands because you could feel the energy,” Orange County coach Braeden Cloutier said after the season opener. “The atmosphere was tremendous tonight, the fan support.”

Fans cheer for the Orange County Soccer Club players as they play against Sacramento Republic FC  Saturday.
Fans cheer for the Orange County Soccer Club players as they play against Sacramento Republic FC at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine on Saturday.
(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

— In a Times’ exclusive, write Jack Harris writes a piece titled “Two-way marvel Shohei Ohtani bypasses superstardom for something larger: Superhero status.” Harris believes Ohtani has the best shot to be the American League MVP.

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate.
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Anaheim.
(AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill)

— The CIF Southern Section is set to crown its first group of champions for lacrosse. The section released its playoff pairings for boys’ and girls’ lacrosse on Saturday.

LIFE & LEISURE

— Knott’s Berry Farm reopened its water park up to season pass holders this past weekend and will reopen to the public beginning this Saturday. Check out these colorful photos that document the fun.

— Although the finished product is probably more than a year off, visitors to Laguna Beach coming to see musical performances, farmers market, art shows and more will find a transformed area, as the town’s city council has approved a $376,990 contract to RRM Design Firm to plan enhancements to the recently opened Promenade on Forest.

— “O.C. foodies take note: Local celeb chef Amar Santana, chef-owner and business partner of Ahmed Labbate of both Vaca and the Hall Global Eatery at South Coast Plaza and Broadway in Laguna, returns to the new television season of ‘Top Chef’ on Bravo,” writes the Daily Pilot society columnist B.W. Cook in his latest roundup of of local charitable events.

Chef Amar Santana of Vaca with "Top Chef" host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi.
Chef Amar Santana of Vaca and the Hall Global Eatery, South Coast Plaza, with “Top Chef” host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi. Santana will return to TVs “Top Chef” this season.
(Courtesy of Lee Healy)