Some City Hall leaders, who declined to be identified, admitted they were losing patience with Ms. Allen over a series of allegedly trouble-causing weekend hip-hop parties.
At Core of the Disagreement
Sources told thefrontpageonline.com that the running dispute centers on whether Ms. Allen or a popular hip-hop figure known as Tommy the Clown would obtain Special Events permits when huge turnouts were anticipated for the hip-hop parties.
Officials said that Ms. Allen and/or Tommy the Clown allegedly refused, on occasion, to pursue a Special Events permit because the document was “too restrictive.”
An aura of mystery and speculation surround the content of the looming meetings. The city will be represented by Interim Police Chief Bill Burck, Chief Administrative Officer Jerry Fulwood, City Atty. Carol Schwab, along with members of the Fire Dept. and the Parks and Recreation Dept.
A goal or likely outcome of the meetings is, so far, an X factor.
“It would not be appropriate for me to comment before any meeting is held,” said Mr. Fulwood. He did promise that the results will be forwarded, via correspondence, to the City Council.
What happens at that point is another foggy factor.
It is not known what party will make the decisive call, if there is to be one, regarding Ms. Allen.
A Complicated Path
City Treasurer Crystal Alexander explained the somewhat complicated process of issuing various forms of permits that are required to do business in Culver City.
Culver City police sources said “there has been talk” of pulling Ms. Allen’s business permit. Before that could be done, city leaders would face a labyrinth of decision-making. Even then, the weight of such a call is unknown.
Police said that trouble has flared for months between Ms. Allen and complaining neighbors over assertedly loud and unruly behavior by participants in the series of hip-hop parties.
It is not known, however, whether the top tier of city leaders has the authority, the will or the accumulated anger to take disciplinary action against Ms. Allen.
The role of the reclusive Mr. Smith in this unfolding drama remains a curious one. His family is a giant in the more than fifty-year history of the artsy neighborhood known as the Hayden Tract.
Mr. Smith is the largest property owner in the Tract. His holdings include the site of the Debbie Allen Dance Studio on Hayden Avenue.
Police gave the following account of events leading to the killing:
Not far from the dance studio, on National Boulevard, to the east, seventeen-year-old Rashad Ali of Los Angeles was riding in a car with several other youths at 12:40 a.m. Sunday, following the latest hugely attended hip-hop party.
Mr. Ali was in the backseat. A gunshot rang out from a passing car, also packed with young men. Mr. Ali was struck by a single bullet, and the driver of his car shortly stopped. Bailing out into the street, the pals of Mr. Ali hailed a Culver City police car in the area. Police dialed paramedics, who rushed the young man to UCLA hospital where he died later on Sunday.
Coverage by Police
Explaining the handy presence of a police car when needed, Police Lt. Dean Williams said that “we try to saturate our coverage and be in every part of the city.”
Especially at an hour when parties and bars and emptying their patrons into the streets.
Eyewitnesses, according to police, gave a comprehensive description of the assailant’s car, which reportedly carried four youths, all under the age of eighteen. The suspects had sped away after the shooting. But within minutes, the four juveniles were arrested by Culver City police.
Sources said that when police arrived in the vicinity of the party, at the dance studio, they found hundreds of young people milling around in the street, even though it was one in the morning.
Word of the shooting spread swiftly among the partygoers.
Murder charges are expected to be filed.