The master tenant of the “Ghost Ship” warehouse and one of its residents have been charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the December 2016 fire where 36 died at an illegal warehouse residence and event space.
In a press conference today, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said 47-year-old Derick Ion Almena, the master tenant of the warehouse, and Max Harris, also known as Max Ohr, could each face up to 39 years in prison if convicted on all 36 counts.
Both men are each charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter for each victim who died in the fire on December 2. All of the victims were attending an electronic music dance party on the second floor of the building at 31st Avenue near International Boulevard.
Only a rickety wooden staircase led to safety; attendees were trapped as flames gutted the building.
Almena and Harris were both taken into custody this morning. Almena was arrested in Lake County, while Harris was arrested in Los Angeles with the help of Los Angeles Police and the FBI.
As the criminal investigation has now concluded, it appears that property owner Chor Ng has escaped criminal culpability for the fire, despite reports she was warned that the building’s electrical system was outdated and dangerous and did not take action.
Ng, Almena, Harris and others were named in a lawsuit filed last month by the victims’ families.
Defense attorneys for Almena issued a statement today saying they will vigorously defend him against the criminal charges.
“We believe that these charges represent no less than a miscarriage of justice, and we are confident that this attempt to make a scapegoat out of our client will fail,” said the statement, which was signed by Jeffrey Krasnoff, Kyndra Miller and J. Tony Serra.
O’Malley said her office concluded the investigation after poring through thousands of pages of documents, conducting 75 witness interviews and serving a dozen search warrants. She said they concluded that Almena’s and Harris’s actions amounted to “gross or reckless conduct akin to disregard for human life.”
She said that they had allowed people to live in the warehouse and deceived Oakland police and the Oakland Fire Department, though city records released in February indicate that the police were aware that the building had been used as a living and event space since at least 2015.
Almena and Harris “knowingly created a fire trap with inadequate means of escape,” O’Malley said, pointing out that one exit to the building had been blocked the night of the fire, leaving only one way out, and that flammable material was stacked from floor to the ceiling.
District Attorney spokesperson Teresa Drenick said today that there will “likely” never be an official determination of the cause of the fire because so much of the evidence was consumed by flames. She and O’Malley answered few questions today about the investigation.
O’Malley said prior to making her announcement, she called the families of each of the 36 victims.
“I wholeheartedly support our arts community,” she said, “but every single one of those individuals deserves to live and work in a space that’s safe.”
