Beach Brawl Costs Man Part of Nose

A dogfight at Bolsa Chica State Beach erupted into a brawl between two groups of beach-goers, leaving four people with minor injuries and one young man with part of his nose bitten off, police said Sunday.

Huntington Beach Lt. Luis Ochoa said the fight erupted about 5:15 p.m. Saturday when a group of beach-goers tried to protect their Rottweiler, which was being attacked by two pit bulls.

The owners of the pit bulls and their friends--a total of five males--became angry with the group protecting the Rottweiler and started a fistfight, Ochoa said. During the course of the nearly 10-minute fight an 18-year-old man from Huntington Beach had a portion of his nose bitten off by someone, he said.

He was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange by his friends, among them the owners of the pit bulls. He is considered a suspect in the beach assault, Ochoa said.

The pit bulls’ owners and their friends had gone by the time lifeguards and police arrived. Three men and one woman from the other group--from Los Angeles and San Diego counties--were treated at the scene for minor cuts, bruises and abrasions, Ochoa said.

Investigators have not made any arrests. “It’s pending further investigation,” said Ochoa, who declined to release the name of the man with the injured nose. He added that authorities don’t know who did the biting.

Unlike the participants in the brawl, Ochoa said, the dogs were unharmed.