LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of a downtown Los Angeles building where an explosion injured 12 firefighters has been allowed to enter a judicial diversion program that allows him to avoid jail time.
A court commissioner on Wednesday granted Steve Sungho Lee's request to enter the two-year program. Lee owned a commercial building that caught fire in May 2020.
Firefighters on the roof and inside the building had to run for their lives when a ball of flames erupted from a vaping supply warehouse.
City prosecutors filed more than 160 charges against Lee and his companies over alleged safety violations.
They'll be dismissed if Lee follows the diversion requirements.
