More than 150 people arrested at massive LA house party

Los Angeles County is the hardest-hit district in the United States for coronavirus, with more deaths and more cases than anywhere else

Sheriffs in Los Angeles County arrested 158 people at a massive house party over the weekend, summoning a helicopter and deputies from three stations in a show of force against those defying lockdown rules.

The party in Palmdale, 60 miles north of downtown LA, was organised by a 17-year-old who Fox 11 said was staging numerous large gatherings around the area.  

On Saturday night, the teenager he held an illegal party at an empty house that was available to rent, and was somehow accessed.

“It was what we call a super spreader for Covid,” said Lt. Paul Zarris of Los Angeles County sheriffs’ department's Palmdale station, describing the event.

Los Angeles County is the hardest-hit district in the nation, with more Covid cases and more deaths than anywhere else in the US.

There have been 457,880 cases confirmed and 7,936 deaths, according to John Hopkins University.

There were 10,500 new cases in the county on Sunday, and they saw the seventh consecutive day of record-breaking hospital admissions. More than four times as many people were being treated for Covid in hospital on Sunday than in early October, when there were about 700 people in hospital with the disease.

The county is under lockdown, with restaurants, gyms, salons and playgrounds closed.

Footage captured by Fox showed the moment the sheriffs from three different stations descended on the scene.

Using a loud speaker, deputies ordered everyone out of the house, while a sheriffs' department helicopter circled above.

Revellers inside the home could be seen laughing and looking out the window while they recorded and live-streamed themselves.

The sheriffs made 158 arrests, and lined up those who were detained on the street.

The sheriffs tested everyone’s temperatures and gave them blankets after the party was broken up (Fox 11)

Deputies gave those who were detained masks, checked their temperatures, and provided them blankets.

Of the 158, seven were taken to jail. Sheriffs cited and released 116 adults and 35 juveniles with misdemeanor charges.  

There were arrests for burglary, and one gun charge.  

A young girl, classed as an "at-risk female juvenile runaway", was taken into custody by the Human Trafficking Task Force.

The 17-year-old promoter was also arrested, and was seen being placed into a police cruiser while deputies appeared to take a large bag of cash from him.

Alex Villanueva, the sheriff of Los Angeles County, has said that he would not enforce health orders at struggling businesses, and would instead focus his enforcement on large gatherings like these.

“We’re going to target things known as super-spreader events where people are congregating and there’s no social distancing, no mask wearing – those are the ones that seem to be the biggest drive of the current surge,” he said.

“I want to stay away from businesses that are trying to comply the best way they can, I don’t want to make their lives anymore miserable.”

Sheriffs admitted that they wanted to send a message with the high-profile breakup of the party.

“We just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen, especially in our area, we’ll let them know that this is not acceptable,” said Mr Zarris.

“We want to make sure we’re setting an example that we aren’t going to tolerate it.”

Health experts warn that LA County's situation is only going to get worse.

Barbara Ferrer, LA County public health director, said that number could rise dramatically in the next few weeks as the full toll of the Thanksgiving holiday begins to become known.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing daily hospitalisations approaching 4,000 in a couple of weeks,” she said.  

“I am positive that we haven’t seen the full increases in our case numbers associated with the Thanksgiving holiday, just based on the timeline.”