A swinger party in South Central Los Angeles, that over 200 people attended amid rising coronavirus cases in California, was busted by police on Saturday.
ABC 7 News reports that the arrests happened on Jan. 9 as the local sheriff's department has continued to target large illegal gatherings during the pandemic. Cases in California have been on the rise since November, reaching a peak of over 64,000 new cases on Dec. 26. As the arrests at the swinger party, which was called an "adults only" event, happened, an LASD deputy told everyone there over loudspeakers that "the party is over."
"The results of the operation included 2 commercial building locations, and a total of 182 arrests," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tweeted. L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueve added that legal action will be taken against "ALL underground party events occurring anywhere within Los Angeles County," with the hope that shutting down these dangerous events will reduce the spread of COVID-19.
While this is far from the first report regarding an ill-advised sex-oriented event taking place during the pandemic, it is notable in that it resulted in a high number of arrests. By comparison, a multi-day swinger convention in New Orleans was deemed a "superspreader event" in December after 41 attendees tested positive, but no arrests were made.
