Around 3 a.m. on a Saturday in July 2024, a resident of an apartment building in Oakland’s Koreatown Northgate neighborhood woke up to commotion outside.
The resident, who asked not to be named due to fears of retaliation, walked out and began recording the early-morning chaos on their phone. The video, reviewed by The Oaklandside, showed several people lined up in front of a business blasting loud music. Some chatted loudly in the apartment complex’s parking lot, located across the street from the business. Drivers double-parked their cars along the street.
It all centered on a business at the corner of 27th and Telegraph Avenue called Lava Lounge. The resident and other neighbors filed multiple complaints about the venue with the city and the Oakland Police Department in 2023 and 2024…