More Giant Ads Removed From Hollywood Buildings

Hollywood - Just in time for the Oscars, five more supergraphics were removed from two buildings on Hollywood Boulevard in City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's ongoing battle against the purveyors of the huge ads.

A judge issued arrest warrants Tuesday for four people Trutanich has accused of putting up the signs at 6800 Hollywood Blvd. and 6810-6820 Hollywood Blvd., near the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site.

The city's sign law bans the erection of the gigantic vinyl images that are draped across the sides of buildings, and the supergraphics were all gone by this morning, The Times reported.

Deputy City Attorney Spencer Hart told The Times the signs were a threat to public safety because they were installed without permits or city inspections.

Alexander Kouba and France Luanghy each posted $100,000 bail Thursday, while defendant Thomas Curtin posted his $100,000 bail on Friday.

Steve Madison, an attorney for Kouba and Luanghy, told The Times the signs were "perfectly legal and safe."

"Given that the city attorney has taken the position that not only are they unlawful but criminal, we thought the prudent thing to do in the meantime would be to take them down," he said.

Madison said his clients, which also include the billboard company known as Community Redevelopment Association, will fight the charges.

Last Friday evening, Trutanich had Kayvan Setareh jailed on $1 million bail because he had an eight-story supergraphic on a building on Hollywood Boulevard, also near where the Academy Awards ceremony will be held.

Setareh had to spend three days in jail before a judge agreed to lower his bail to $100,000 if he removed the sign. He also plans to fight the three misdemeanors he was charged with.