L.A. police disperse Westwood gathering

Los Angeles police fired rubber bullets to disperse UCLA partisans during a rowdy celebration early Sunday morning in Westwood after the school’s 13-9 upset victory over cross-town rival USC, police said.

The celebration was peaceful overall, but there was an alleged pepper-spraying incident involving a police officer at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and a possibly unrelated shooting in Westwood.

It was after midnight Sunday when baton-wielding officers in riot gear decided that a boisterous, alcohol-fueled sidewalk and street romp had lasted long enough, said police and witnesses.

By all accounts, the celebrating was essentially nonviolent, but a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said several trash fires were started.

The largest burned in the 600 block of Landfair Avenue, said Daily Bruin assistant news editor Anthony Pesce, who, along with other staffers, quickly relayed to the paper’s website what had transpired.

Pesce said the blaze was started with newspapers, and two couches and two chairs were thrown in later.

“A car was sitting right next to the fire,” said Pesce. “It had actually started to melt and several people there were concerned that the car might blow up.” Police identified the car as a 2006 Scion.

“Students brought out trash cans full of water and a hose,” Pesce said.

But others began throwing bottles indiscriminately, said police and witnesses.

Police ordered people inside to nearby apartments, Pesce said, and cleared the street with what a police spokesman called “non-lethal” force.

Bruin staffers estimated crowds in the area at about 500, and L.A. police put the number at 1,000. No arrests were made.

In an apparently unrelated incident in the vicinity of the celebration, an unknown assailant shot a man in the leg, said Sgt. Greg Hancock, assistant watch commander for the West Los Angeles Community Police Station.

The unidentified victim, in his 20s, was shot by a small-caliber weapon. He was in stable to good condition at a local hospital, Hancock said.

At the end of the game at the Rose Bowl, three UCLA fans claimed they were among a group pepper-sprayed in the stands by a Pasadena officer.

The alleged incident happened just after the game. The students said the officer sprayed the front row of a section several times after two people went onto the field and two or three others tried to do the same.

“I saw a couple of girls curled up on the ground, crying and screaming and puking, when they had no intention of getting on the field,” said Brian Sanders, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at UCLA.

Pasadena police said they had no information on the allegation but would look into it. The department tallied 16 arrests for taking the field, out of a total of 42 for various offenses, said Lt. Jari Faulkner, the watch commander.

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howard.blume@latimes.com