HOUSTON – Chaotic block parties over the weekend in northeast Houston are being addressed by city leaders.
One man spoke out at city council about the large party blocking streets off Homestead Road on Saturday and said these incidents are a safety hazard. HPD said the party was not permitted.
Hundreds of people filled the parking lot outside Big City Foods this weekend for the party.
READ MORE: NE Houston homeowner frustrated over partygoers tearing up yard during large block parties
It was called LaFaye Day, which is a party and trail ride that happens every year and was advertised on social media.
Fred Woods is the President of the Northwood Manner Civic Club and lives nearby. He called police after seeing trail riders, ATVs, and the large crowds of people as he tried to get home. He spoke out at city council on Tuesday.
“My community was victim of the infamous LaFaye Day this weekend. An annual event, meant to be a birthday celebration. That instead it offers an opportunity for chaos and an increased risk for harm to the community. They were overrunning the neighborhood and overrunning the community. Completely stopping all traffic in the street which spilled over into the community,” said Woods.
Surveillance video from Big City Foods shows cars, people, and horses making their way into the parking lot. Kimberly Guerrero showed up to work at the store and could barely make her way inside.
“They started stealing stuff and we couldn’t do much about it and then the security guy came at 5 and locked the doors. People came to the door and kept hitting it hard,” said Guerrero.
On Sunday, our cameras captured similar chaos as police tried to shut down a large block party off Laura Koppe Road.
Woods asked city officials to enforce ordinances. City council member Abbie Kamin said the city did pass an ordinance last term regarding large pop-up block parties.
“This is one of those examples where we should follow this through to the end. We have started that work, we have been acting on that work and this is one of those we need to see if there is an enforcement mechanism retroactively. This shouldn’t be happening, said Kamin.
Mayor John Whitmire said he plans to speak with Police Chief Troy Finner about enforcement.
“Maybe we need to get LaFaye down here. We’re going to have LaFaye day at city hall.” said Whitmire.
HPD also told Peel they are aware that the large parties are a problem in Northeast Houston. They said at least a noise permit is required to have the large parties. KPRC 2 obtained video of people jumping on top of a police car during Saturday’s party. HPD said one man has been arrested. HPD told KPRC 2 officers have been working to go into those problem locations to combat the issues. If police get word of the events in advance, HPD said it will talk to the organizers.