Chaos broke out in Newport Beach on the Fourth of July as a rowdy crowds engaged in fights and vandalized a Pavilions market, according to police, who arrested numerous individuals Saturday night.
“We had a large unruly crowd of close to 3,000 people fighting and causing massive disruption from 29th street to 35th street,” Deputy Chief of Police Joshua Vincelet told the Daiy Pilot in an email.
“It was necessary for us to utilize a large contingent of officers to clear the beach and restore order,” he wrote. “This process took almost two hours, but we accomplished an orderly environment for families and residents trying to enjoy the beach.”
Illegal fireworks go off in Newport Beach Saturday, during a night of chaos that drew a strong police response and resulted in numerous arrests and the closure of the city’s beaches.
(KTLA)
Newport Beach Police Department equine officers, as well as assistance from Fullerton, helped with the crowd control, Vincelet said.
NBPD spokesperson Heather Rangel said, “There were numerous calls for service throughout the day that required officers to respond with lights and sirens.” She confirmed that a fight broke out on 32nd Street and a crowd had to be dispersed.
ABC 7 reported that at least 100 people were arrested in the melee.
Several people in nearby neighborhoods took to social media, describing police helicopters circling the area of the peninsula and a massive showing of law enforcement vehicles in the area.
A vacationing family witnessed a rowdy crowd on the beach near seashore and 32nd Street, according to their social media post. They captured a scene of police creating a line as they cleared crowds off the beach, between 28th and 36th streets.
Police Saturday watch from a distance as multiple agencies attempt to control crowds drawn to Newport Beach for July 4.
(KTLA)
Even more pandemonium erupted at around 10 p.m., when crowds spooled out of control at Pavilions grocery store parking lot on West Balboa Boulevard. According to videos circulating online, rowdy groups of young people appeared to engage in acts of vandalism, as illegal fireworks erupted and fist fights broke out on the streets.
Multiple police agencies assisted Newport Beach officers attempting to control the throngs of revelers. Social media posts captured police helicopters issuing warnings via loud speaker about unlawful assembly and ordering people to get off the streets and leave Newport.
Locals help with cleanup at Pavilions West Balboa Boulevard Sunday morning, in the aftermath of a rowdy disturbance on the Fourth of July.
(Bill Forsythe)
At 8:25 p.m. NBPD sent alerts to residents via Newport Notified stating that, “Due to large unruly crowds in the area of 26th street and the beach an unlawful assembly has been placed. All residents are asked to shelter in place until further notice.”
A second alert issued at 10:50 a.m. advised residents that all beaches had been closed and officers were actively clearing traffic from the Peninsula.
Later, at 3 a.m. an updated traffic advisory indicated southbound lanes of Balboa Boulevard, at Newport Boulevard, had been reopened.
The scene on Sunday morning was much quieter, though the mess left behind cluttered streets and sidewalks. Some local residents made their way out to the Pavilions parking lot, pitching in to help restore the neighborhood grocery store to normalcy.
Local real estate agent Bill Forsythe, who was on his way to his office at Engel & Voelkers on Shipyard Way, stopped in for coffee at Starbucks inside Pavilions Sunday morning as the clean-up was taking place.
“I spoke to a man who lived on 28th Street, who had seen the incident last night and came out this morning to help clean up the parking lot,” Forsythe said.
“He said the unruly people were throwing large fireworks like cherry bombs into the crowd, and he had heard that many were from out of state.”
City News Service and assistant editor Sara Cardine contributed to this report.