40 Arrested in Huntington Beach Melee

Forty men were arrested after a midnight melee Monday in which residents’ furniture was burned in a huge street fire and five police officers suffered minor injuries.

A roving Fourth of July party downtown raged out of control for about 30 minutes at the corner of Olive Avenue and 7th Street, said Lt. Luis Ochoa.

Hundreds of people fed a huge bonfire with cardboard boxes, garbage cans, sofas and lawn furniture before a team of 50 officers in riot gear stormed the area and broke up the crowd, Ochoa said.

One officer broke his elbow, while four others and many of the revelers suffered minor injuries, police said.

“They just took over the whole (intersection). It was just out of control,” Ochoa said. “The Fourth of July typically gets kind of wild in the evening. . . . People come here, they ride their bicycles from party to party, and I’m not talking about an inside-the-house type party. I’m talking about take-over-the-street, wild-and-crazy type party.”

Neighbors said there were 500 to 1,000 people in the streets, scurrying through the alleys, dropping water balloons from balconies, setting off fireworks, tossing garbage cans back and forth and lighting fires. Several cars were dented or had their windows smashed.

At one point, resident Roger Ortega said, a large Jeep filled with people drove by and passengers threw plastic chairs into the crowd. The chairs were ripped apart and eventually added to the bonfire.

Ortega said that during the chaos he saw a young man try to put an American flag into the blaze, but several of his fellow revelers chased him down the alley and beat him up.

Revelers threw rocks, bottles and exploding fireworks at police officers, Ochoa said.

“It happens every Fourth of July. The kids just get kind of crazy,” said Susan Joy, who lives near the intersection. “This is the third Fourth of July that I’ve actually been here, and this was the worst. It only happens once a year, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. I guess that’s living at the beach.”

Throughout the weekend, Huntington Beach police made more than 175 arrests and impounded 200 bicycles, Ochoa said. Last year, Huntington Beach police arrested about 100 people over the Fourth of July weekend.

Neighboring Newport Beach was the scene of a shooting, a stabbing and a beating during the 1992 holiday. This year, the Newport police force was beefed up, and the weekend was much quieter.

To a six-year resident of the Huntington Beach neighborhood, Monday’s brawl “was just big fun.”

“A birthday party--our nation’s birthday party,” said the man who identified himself only as Mike. “Just reveling, riding bikes, having fun, drinking, celebrating. I think it’s a great thing. I love it every year.”

Police first dispersed the gathering at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, but within an hour, the mob returned to the same intersection. Officers finally scattered the crowd at about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

“I think they let it go way too long,” added Jenny Workman, who has lived in the neighborhood on and off for two decades. “What happened was the first time they broke up the big mess down here, they didn’t stay around and deal with it. The group was regrouping as (the police) were walking away.”

Forty men, most in their 20s, were arrested on charges of public drunkenness and failing to disperse and were held overnight in the city jail. Most were released Monday. Among those arrested were residents of Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

One of them, Larry Aaron Morales, 22, of Westminster, was charged with assaulting a police officer and remained in custody Monday.

Police were unsure Monday how much property was damaged in the disturbance.