California accuses L.A. Coliseum of allowing teens to drink alcohol

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has accused the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum of multiple violations of its conditional alcohol license during the Electric Daisy Carnival rave last year, including allowing teenagers to consume alcohol.

The Coliseum also is accused of allowing consumption and sales of alcohol outside its licensed area, such as the parking lot, during the June 25-26 event. Penalties for a violation of an alcohol license can range from a letter of warning or a fine to suspension or revocation of a license.

A separate alcohol license for the neighboring Sports Arena also is cited in another accusation filed Jan. 13. The state accused the Sports Arena of allowing people to consume alcohol in an area outside the boundary of the state license.

According to the accusation, 18-year-old Christian David Ramos and 19-year-old Omar Soriano were found to be drinking alcoholic beverages June 25 in areas “under the control of the licensee.”

A separate arm of the Coliseum Commission, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Assn., a nonprofit that handles concessions for the Coliseum and Sports Arena, was scheduled to discuss the matter in closed session Wednesday afternoon, according to the agenda. The action came to the attention of The Times after it appeared on the association’s agenda.

The association has the option of contesting the accusations before an administrative law judge.

Neither David Israel, president of the Coliseum Commission, nor Ronald Lederkramer, finance manager for the Coliseum Commission, commented on the accusations, saying they were a matter of pending litigation.

There has been no legal action against the alcohol license of the Coliseum or Sports Arena since 1998, when the two entities were granted their current alcohol licenses.

The Coliseum has a license to sell beer and wine, and the Sports Arena has a license to sell beer, wine and spirits.

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