Youth, 16, Arrested in Attack on Lifeguards : Crime: Officials say the suspect was involved in one of three recent violent incidents at a Watts swimming pool.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested Thursday on suspicion of attacking several lifeguards at a public swimming pool in Watts, one of three attacks since the pool opened for the summer.

The suspect, whose name was not released because of his age, was arrested by Los Angeles County Park Police at the Will Rogers pool about 1 p.m. after authorities received several tips that he was involved in the attacks and probably would return to the pool, said Park Police Chief John Zrofsky.

The youth, described by police as a gang member, was booked at the sheriff’s Century station on a charge of assaulting a public officer.

The charge stems from an attack at the pool Monday that occurred after a lifeguard tried to restrain a youth who had been roughhousing in the water, authorities said. At that point, several suspected gang members jumped a fence around the pool area and began beating the lifeguard. A melee erupted as other lifeguards tried to intervene. Some of the lifeguards suffered cuts and bruises, one a broken nose and another several cracked teeth.

Zrofsky said the first attack occurred last Saturday, the pool’s first day of summer swimming. More serious violence erupted Tuesday when lifeguard Paul Alba tried to protect a 13-year-old boy apparently being hazed by older youths. Alba was severely beaten and remained in critical condition Thursday at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Zrofsky said about 30 youths were involved in the attacks; additional suspects are being sought.

“We simply are not going to tolerate this,” Zrofsky said. “These lifeguards are there to save lives, not to be victims of brutal assaults.”

Zrofsky said it is unlikely that the attacks are linked to new fees imposed on pool patrons this summer. Children must pay $1 to swim and adults $2. Many area residents have complained that the fees are a burden for poor families.

“It’s probably a combination of things,” Zrofsky said, “heat, frustration, competing gangs. We think the attacks have been more of an opportunistic thing.”

Meanwhile, County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who represents the neighborhood, called for calm Thursday as she went to the hospital to check on Alba, who remained in a coma, and talk to his family.

Burke said she is concerned over how the admission charges might affect poorer families and is soliciting donations to offset the fees. So far, about $65,000 has been raised, and Burke said the money will be used to eliminate fees for children at Will Rogers and other pools in her district, possibly by this weekend.

County officials said conditions at the pool were calm Thursday as extra police patrols continued a constant watch over the usually crowded facility. Samuel V. Jones, assistant director of the county’s Parks and Recreation Department, said only 50 to 60 people were at a pool that traditionally averages 500 to 600 people on hot summer days.

But Jones said park police and other staff had received dozens of calls from outraged residents as word filtered through the community about the attacks.

“A number of people are coming up and inquiring how Paul is doing or indicating they know who the individuals were that did it and where they can be found,” he said. “We’re hopeful all of this will result in more arrests.”