Band Members in 101 Freeway Stunt to Stand Trial

Three members of an Orange County band who performed on top of a truck on the Hollywood (101) Freeway and caused a massive traffic jam in October were ordered Thursday to stand trial on three charges.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samuel Mayerson found sufficient evidence to require Christopher Roy Wright, 33, David Paul Hale, 31, and Keith R. Yackey, 32, to stand trial on one felony count of conspiracy and one misdemeanor count each of public nuisance and false imprisonment.

The judge dismissed two other misdemeanor counts alleging that the trio, known as The Imperial Stars, resisted, obstructed or delayed Los Angeles police and California Highway Patrol officers.

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Salvador Ogaz testified that he drove onto the freeway near Sunset Boulevard just after 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 12 after seeing a number of people on an overpass with cellphones. He then saw three people on top of a large truck on the freeway and heard singing and instruments being played.

"I observed traffic had been stopped, pretty much all lanes, except the No. 4 lane,'' the sergeant testified. "I saw one of the individuals holding a microphone or using a microphone. It was very loud.''

He said he activated his patrol car's sirens and light bar, gestured and told the musicians to come down from the truck, but added that they probably did not hear him.

The men came down from the truck shortly after the Los Angeles City Fire Department brought a ladder and put it on one of the sides of the vehicle, the sergeant said.

"The traffic was stopped for miles, at least a mile for sure. We were there for a long time,'' Ogaz testified.

California Highway Patrol Officer Dean Jacobs testified that he saw one LAPD officer standing on the hood of the truck while telling the musicians to get off the vehicle.

"They were still playing their music,'' the CHP officer said.

Jacobs testified that he could not find the keys for the truck, which eventually had to be towed away.

The truck—which had been parked across three of the four southbound lanes of the freeway—had been equipped with a speaker, amplifier and barbed wire and included photos of the band members, according to the CHP officer.

Defense attorney Roger Rosen, who represents all three men, told the judge that his clients didn't even acknowledge that they heard the officers' orders to get down off the vehicle and that they were "totally compliant'' once the Fire Department arrived with a ladder.

When the three were charged Nov. 30, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said it was a "well-orchestrated commercial stunt perpetrated by these defendants and their accomplices with no concern for the lives or well-being of thousands of innocent victims who were caught up in the prank.''

The three are due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse for arraignment July 14. The Imperial Stars, a self- described "hard core hip-hop band,'' has a song called Traffic Jam 101.

Here is a link to a video of the performance on the freeway.

— City News Service was used to compile this report.