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Police Looking for Suspects in Holiday Incidents : Violence: 5 were shot, beaten or stabbed in Newport Beach over the weekend. Authorities say they have leads but that there have been no arrests.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Police were continuing to search for suspects Monday in connection with a baseball bat assault, a stabbing and a triple shooting that took place over the July 4 weekend.

“We are pursuing some leads, but no arrests have been made as of yet,” said Sgt. Andy Gonis, a Police Department spokesman.

Two victims of the gang-related shooting that occurred during a fight early Sunday remained at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach onMonday. Police would not release their names because they are juveniles. The more seriously injured of them suffered a bullet wound to the chest. The third shooting victim, Minh Hoang, 21, of Santa Ana, was treated Sunday for a wound to the upper torso and released, a hospital official said.

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In another gang-related incident Saturday, a 17-year-old boy was taken to Hoag after being beaten with a baseball bat. Officials would not release further details because of the victim’s age.

The stabbing victim, Enrique Alvarado, 25, of Fullerton, was in fair condition Monday at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana after being treated for a knife wound to the back. He was stabbed early Saturday evening while trying to break up a fight.

Police officials blame the unruliness on the large numbers of youths who descended on the area for the plethora of parties that have become a Fourth of July tradition in the seaside community.

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Although more than 200 officers were deployed Saturday and Sunday, police were unable to stop the assaults because of problems with crowd control, Gonis said. “We could have had another 200 police and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Gonis said. “There were officers there within a minute of the shooting.”

Several city officials who witnessed some of the celebrating said that they were appalled by the widespread drunkenness and that they plan to suggest changes for next year.

Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer said she intends to ask that Seashore Drive be closed during the July 4 holiday to save the city “tons of money” needed to beef up police protection. “I’m resenting the amount of money we have to pay police, fire and paramedics to allow kids from other areas to come down and make our city a shambles,” Plummer said.

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The state beaches in Orange County, however, enjoyed a relatively trouble free holiday, in contrast to previous years. Authorities attributed that to a ban on alcohol that went into effect last Thursday, after an unruly mob had attacked two lifeguards.

“We had a few grumblings from people who wanted a beer, but, by and large, it was the smoothest Fourth of July in my 25 years with the park service,” State Park Supt. Jack Roggenbuck said.

Times correspondents Iris Yokoi and Maresa Archer contributed to this story.

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