The city of Burbank on Saturday put up a wire fence around a local restaurant that has repeatedly defied county health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fence was erected around the Tinhorn Flats Saloon & Grill in the 2600 block of West Magnolia Boulevard to prevent owners from reopening in unsafe conditions.
The city, which received permission from a judge to cut power to the business last month, obtained a preliminary injunction on Friday to prevent the restaurant from operating without a county health permit and a conditional use permit from the city. Burbank Police Lieutenant Derek Green reported.
Local residents who have been divided over this situation have staged protests over the shutdown for several days, and crowds of dozens of protesters have put pressure on police resources, especially during busy weekend nights, Green said.
“We will be there to maintain peace and order,” he said. “The groups have been peaceful for the most part. But people who live around the small business district have been affected by the uproar. “
On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff told attorney Mark J. Geragos, on behalf of the restaurant, that he could file a motion to modify the court order, which is consistent with the temporary restraining order that the restaurant judge imposed against the thematic venue of the West on March 8.
The judge did not impose any sanctions on the restaurant owner, who has defied health orders and continued to offer alfresco dining at a time when it was banned in Los Angeles County as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Geragos said he would ask for the dissolution of the preliminary injunction. He also praised the attorney for the opposing party, Assistant District Attorney Michael M. Lee.
“I wish our clients got along as well as Mr. Lee and I,” Geragos said.
The city maintains that the restaurant is an ongoing public nuisance.
Lucas Lepejian, the restaurant owner’s 20-year-old son, was taken into custody around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday after Burbank police said he was seen removing sandbags placed in front of the building to prevent anyone from entering. . He was summoned and released a few hours later; it was his third arrest in six days.
Anita Clarke, an assistant city attorney for Burbank, told the Times that it had not been determined what charges, if any, would be filed, but that a criminal offense is a possibility.
Tinhorn Flats owner Baret Lepejian, who lives in Thailand while his children run the restaurant, told The Times he supported his son’s actions and pledged not to pay the roughly $ 50,000 fine that had been imposed on the business.
“Show me one piece of evidence that I am endangering the public,” he said. “This has never been about safety or the public. It has never been about that. This is all about fear and control. “
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