Halloween Is Mostly Peaceful in L.A. Area

Tens of thousands of costumed revelers crowded Hollywood and West Hollywood on Saturday night without major incident, making for a generally peaceful Halloween in the Los Angeles area, authorities said Sunday.

Gatherings were more boisterous in Isla Vista, outside Santa Barbara, where throngs of college students jammed the streets and sheriff’s deputies arrested more than 1,500 people on mostly alcohol-related offenses Friday and Saturday night. Two people were injured, one of them critically, when they fell from bluffs Saturday evening, but authorities said there were no major disturbances.

In Hollywood, police closed Hollywood Boulevard for an estimated 30,000 merrymakers, while in West Hollywood about 80,000 people shut down Santa Monica Boulevard for what a Sheriff’s Department spokesman described as “a very festive occasion.”

A noisy house party in the Antelope Valley turned violent when a large contingent of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrived to quiet the Littlerock gathering. One party-goer, incensed that the band had stopped playing, pulled out a handgun and fired at the musicians to get them to resume, authorities said.

No one was injured in the shooting, and a Van Nuys resident, Ricardo Lopez, 20, was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Outside the house, a 21-year-old man from Santa Ana was beaten, and a 17-year-old from Inglewood was stabbed. The beating victim was treated and released from a hospital, and the stabbing victim remained hospitalized Sunday in stable condition. No arrests were made in those assaults.