No Holiday for Huntington Beach Police

Police and city officials were left to wonder Tuesday what more could have been done to stem the outbreak of Fourth of July melees that included furniture burning in the streets and firecrackers, bottles and rocks being hurled at officers and passing cars.

More than 50 people were arrested in the city’s downtown during three hours late Monday night and early Tuesday. In all, 139 arrests were made throughout the day and night for a variety of offenses, including public drunkenness, resisting arrest and failure to disperse. No serious injuries were reported, police said.

Other beach cities reported a relatively calm July 4, including Newport Beach, where 81 people were arrested Monday mostly for alcohol-related offenses, police there said. In Seal Beach, only two people were arrested, both on drunk-driving charges.

“We didn’t even have any minor incidents,” Seal Beach Police Sgt. Dean Zanone said.

The scene in downtown Huntington Beach late Monday night, however, was far from quiet, reminding some residents of the near-riot during last year’s Fourth of July, which resulted in more than 40 arrests.

Krysten Olson, who watched the action unfold from her front yard at Olive Avenue and 11th Street, said, “People walked a couch down the block and lit it on fire. People were cheering it on. There were about 200 people going down the street, drinking and throwing fireworks.”

The trouble started about 10:30 p.m. when a crowd of about 500 people gathered near Main Street and Olive Avenue. Police arrived and dispersed the crowd, which then broke into several smaller groups and spread throughout downtown, Huntington Beach police Officer Mike Corchoran said.

“It turned into a game of cat and mouse,” Corchoran said. “We would split one group up and then there would be two or three other things starting up. We had to do that for more than three hours until we dispersed all of the problem people.”

At one point, police sprayed some stubborn revelers with water from a truck to clear several downtown streets.

“We decided to dampen their spirits and basically it worked real well,” Corchoran said.

Corchoran said this year’s disturbances appeared to be much more calculated than last year’s Fourth of July, when 50 officers arrived downtown in riot gear to break up a roving party.

“Last year was like one big thing and this year was more like a myriad of little things,” he said. “I think what’s behind it is that people are almost expecting something like this to occur. So, you have individuals who flock anywhere where there is potential for recognition and notoriety.”

Determined to avoid a repeat of last year, the city’s entire 230-member force was on duty throughout the weekend at a cost of $100,000.

“I think the cops did the best that they could,” said resident Tim Wuerfel, 26. “They are outnumbered every year. The biggest problem is that so many people come to this area. A lot of these people get together and they think they can do whatever they want to do.”

Huntington Beach Mayor Linda Moulton Patterson, a downtown resident, also praised the efforts of police.

“They did a fantastic job,” she said. “We made it clear that we didn’t want any lawbreakers to come to Huntington Beach on the Fourth of July. They did a great job of enforcing the law.”

But not everyone was happy with police, including some residents who felt officers were too quick to arrest people.

“I think they overreacted in some instances,” said 52-year-old resident Jay Scannell. “They nailed everyone. They were really in your face.”

Resident Ed Grande, 32, was among those who spent the night in jail. He was still angry about the experience after returning home on Tuesday.

“A lot of people deserved to be in that jail, but I wasn’t one of them,” Grande said. “I sat on a bike, took a swig on a beer, put the beer down and rode away. When I got back, they said I was drunk in public and arrested me. They were just harassing me. I could see them giving me a ticket for drinking in public, but to arrest me and take me to jail, I wasn’t too happy about it.”

In addition to the arrests, police also impounded about 250 bicycles from riders who didn’t have a city-required license.

“The purpose was to prevent mobility,” Corchoran said. “You had party-goers going from one party to another on bicycle. We wanted to prevent them from going to the next party and creating more problems.”

Dozens of people trickled into the Police Department Tuesday morning to retrieve their bicycles.

“I don’t even know why I came back here to pick this piece of junk up,” Ryan Litten, 20, said as he put a rusted blue beach cruiser into the back of his pickup truck.

Litten and others were required to show proof of ownership as they picked up their bikes and had to pay $3 to obtain bicycle registration.

“I knew about the law as far as having a license, so next year I’ll definitely have it,” said Litten. “I was just riding around, watching all the people. I was having a grand ol’ time. I think (the police) were trying to take a stand and show everyone.”

In Newport Beach, where there were near-riot conditions two years ago, things were relatively calm, despite 81 arrests on Monday, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

“Overall, we felt that this year was quieter than the past several years,” Gonis said. “Because it was quiet, we had more time to deal with calls and, as a result, arrests went up.”

Gonis said more than 60 of the arrests were for alcohol-related offenses. Police also issued “several hundred” citations for minor alcohol offenses, such as alcohol possession and carrying open containers in cars between Friday and Monday nights.

Gonis said there were no significant injuries or damage to report from the July 4 activities that drew hundreds of thousands to the beach city. Police maintained a strong presence, with about 200 officers roaming the streets and beach during the weekend at a cost to taxpayers of about $100,000.

Times correspondents Bob Elston and Shelby Grad contributed to this report.