Promoter reviewing LA Memorial Coliseum rave event after teen’s death, numerous injuries

LA rave promoter promises review after teen death

LOS ANGELES — A top county official called Wednesday for banning raves at the LA Memorial Coliseum after a 15-year-old girl died of a suspected drug overdose and dozens of people were injured at a weekend party that drew a crowd of 185,000.

The uproar over last weekend’s rave has grown by the day as new details emerge about the mayhem and drug abuse that filled the Coliseum in an event that featured carnival rides, light shows and appearances by techno star Moby and Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas.

Videos of the event show a generally peaceful crowd dancing to the music, but as evening falls the Coliseum’s football field becomes tightly packed with revelers. At one point, as people leap over a fence to move from the seating area to the field, one of the performers launches into an expletive-filled tirade from the stage, demanding that the crowd violently push them back.

Sasha Rodriguez was one of an estimated 185,000 people attending the 14th annual Electric Daisy Carnival when she collapsed. She died at a hospital Tuesday after being removed from life support, said Lt. Larry Dietz of the county coroner’s office.

She was treated for drug intoxication, but doctors won’t know the specific cause of her death until toxicology tests are completed.

The two-day Electric Daisy Carnival was limited to people 16 and older, but Dr. Caitlin Reed of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said she was there both days and never saw anyone checking I.Ds as people entered.

Local officials have also come under fire over the fact that the publicly owned stadium hosted an event in which drugs are consumed in large quantities. The Memorial Coliseum is jointly owned by the state, county and city.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the staging of future raves at the Coliseum, saying the public needs to be assured that “the health and safety of the promoter’s patrons are protected” at future events.

“Clearly, there was a breakdown at the Electric Daisy Carnival which put the public at risk,” he said.

Barry Sanders, president of the commission that operates the facility, said he would call a meeting to ensure promoters of events there “have proper procedures in place to protect the health and safety of all attendees.”

“We are currently reviewing the entire event and planning process with our security team, law enforcement and the city officials who participated in organizing and planning Electric Daisy Carnival,” the event’s promoter, Insomniac Inc., said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The promoter also offered condolences to the Rodriguez family.

Other raves have generated controversy in California in recent months over drug abuse.

One death and at least 18 drug overdoses tied to Ecstasy were reported at a New Year’s Eve rave earlier this year at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which is located next door to the Coliseum. That event attracted about 45,000 people.

In the San Francisco Bay area, two men died of suspected drug overdoses at a Memorial Day weekend rave at the Cow Palace in Daly City.

Rodriguez was reportedly one of two rave attendees who arrived at the California Hospital Medical Center in critical condition.

Hospital spokeswoman Katreena Salgado did not return a call for comment Wednesday, and the other person’s current condition was not immediately available.

The Coliseum has a long history in Los Angeles, hosting two Olympic games and serving as the home of the USC football team and the Raiders when they played in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s. The Los Angeles Dodgers also played there briefly before Dodger Stadium was opened in 1962 and the Rams played there before leaving Los Angeles for Orange County and later St. Louis.