Democratic donor Ed Buck arrested and charged with operating drug house
Written by Staff Writer on September 18, 2019
Prominent Democratic donor and LGBTQ political activist Ed Buck was arrested Tuesday and charged with operating a drug house, with prosecutors calling him a violent sexual predator who preys on men struggling with addiction and homelessness.
Buck was charged with one count each of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Buck is accused of injecting a 37-year-old man, who overdosed but survived, with methamphetamine on Sept. 11.
That latest incident comes after two men were found dead in his Laurel Avenue apartment in Hollywood. In both cases, African American men — Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55 — had overdosed on methamphetamine inside. After the first death in 2017, authorities said there was insufficient evidence to file charges.
“With this new evidence, I authorized the filing of criminal charges against Ed Buck,” Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement, adding that she is deeply concerned for those whose life circumstances make them vulnerable to predators.
© Damian Dovarganes / AP FILE – In this Sept. 22, 2010 file photo Ed Buck makes a campaign appearance for Meg Whitman, not shown, then a Republican candidate for governor of California, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives have opened an investigation into a second death in less than two years at the residence of Buck, who has contributed to various California races and causes. Deputies were called to a West Hollywood residence Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, on a report of a person not breathing, and county firefighters pronounced the man dead, a department statement said. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) Prosecutors said Buck lures his victims into his home, baiting them with drugs, money and shelter.
