LOS ANGELES — A Santa Monica man was arrested for installing illegal supergraphics above his empty office building across the street from the entrance of LAX, officials with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office said Monday.
Siamak Michael Rahimi, 55, was arrested Friday and released that day on $75,000 bail.
The City Attorney’s Office charged Rahimi, LAX Enterprises LP and Westside Investment Group with illegally installing supergraphic signs at 9800 S. Sepulveda Blvd., maintaining the illegal sign, obstructing fire department emergency teams and failing to identify responsibility for the sign.
If convicted, Rahimi faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
His arraignment is set for Oct. 13.
The signs, advertising fashion brand Guess and the O Hotel, are made of potentially flammable material that cover most of the north and south windows of the building, causing a fire and safety hazard for the city, Deputy City Attorney Jacquelyn Lawson said.
“If there was a fire, you could not see people behind those signs that might be trapped,” Lawson said.
The charges come after a year-long investigation into the case and repeated warnings from the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety in Nov. 2009 and Aug. 2010, respectively.