Deputies Declare Party Over in Hunt for Rave Site

Like so many teenagers, the deputies were looking for a party. But when they struck out, they were happy.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department proclaimed the Antelope Valley rave-free Sunday after a 10-hour “tactical operation” the day before had combed the desert for any sign of the massive dance parties known for pulsating music and unusual, if not illicit, drug use.

Deputies worried that after they had arrested an organizer of the fourth annual Jujubeats rave, scheduled for Saturday, its promoters would relocate it. For that reason, more than 50 officers from across Los Angeles County searched for a new site.

They cruised the scrubland that had been prepped for the rave. Nothing.

They flew over the baking desert in a helicopter. All quiet.

They dropped in on gas stations and convenience stores, checking for unusual traffic. No sale.

The party was over, it appeared, before it even began.

As many as 30,000 people had been expected to show up for Jujubeats 2001 before deputies arrested Stanley Edward McCullum, 42, of Quartz Hill on Aug. 9 for grading and irrigating property he was buying. The land in the Lake Los Angeles area, east of Palmdale, still belonged to an 84-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son.

The dance parties often take place in remote areas, where DJs can play music until sunrise.

Deputies quit the search operation about 10 p.m. Their sweep had turned up one suspicious group: several young adults in Agua Dulce who said they were students filming a commercial for the B3 energy drink.

Deputies became suspicious because B3Cande Productions organized Jujubeats. The camera crew, which lacked permits, was asked to leave.

B3Cande’s Brian Alper said Sunday the party promoters had no connection to the filmmakers. He called the search pointless.

“We had no intention of doing anything on that spot after they pulled the plug,” he said.

Deputies overstepped their bounds in getting Jujubeats shut down, he said, adding that authorities unfairly portray raves as drug fests.

“They’re attacking music and people’s right to express themselves,” Alper said.

Sheriff’s officials insisted that they have nothing against parties. But young people have overdosed on drugs and died at raves.

“It is not our intention to keep people from having fun,” Deputy Steve Harbeson said in a statement released Sunday. “But it is our responsibility to ensure that it is done legally, without disrupting others.”