8 Arrested in Brawl at Universal CityWalk : Violence: Deputies use pepper spray to break up fracas between gang members as urban tensions encroach on idyllic mall.

Real-life violence erupted at the $100-million fantasy streetscape known as CityWalk, where sheriff’s deputies used pepper spray to break up a melee between rival gang members who fought each other with fists and chairs Friday night.

Authorities plan to increase security at the year-old tourist attraction that was engineered and built by entertainment giant MCA Inc. to create a safe and highly stylized version of a Los Angeles street. CityWalk officials had already toughened their rules for visitors after several clashes last summer.

In a brief battle that escalated from fist fighting to chair throwing, several deputies had to subdue six men and two juveniles who met by chance at about 11:30 p.m. Friday, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Parker.

All eight, who are from Los Angeles, were arrested on charges ranging from misdemeanor battery to assault with a deadly weapon, Parker said.

The fight and arrests did not endanger visitors to the collection of upscale restaurants and shops, said Parker, who described it as “an isolated incident.”

More than 2 million visitors have come to CityWalk since it opened to great fanfare in May, 1993. Some criticized the attraction, saying it tried too hard to be an idealized vision of Los Angeles, an elitist enclave with none of the city’s troubles.

Last fall, MCA and its security guards began enforcing a strict code of conduct--forbidding visitors, for example, from swearing or wearing baseball caps backward--to reverse the growing fear that gang members had discovered the promenade.

Officials with the attraction said Saturday they intend to keep a tight rein on their simulated street.

“We aren’t going to stand for any kind of disturbance at CityWalk whatsoever,” said Joan Bullard, a spokeswoman for Universal Studios Hollywood, which operates the attraction. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”

The trouble Friday started when three men started to hit and kick another man. A sheriff’s deputy standing less than 100 yards away called for backup assistance and ran over to stop the fight.

As deputies were preparing to take the four men away, four others, said to be friends of the victim, began to attack their rivals with chairs. None of the deputies were targeted by the chairs, but they used pepper spray to break up the fracas.

Officers from the North Hollywood station of the Los Angeles Police Department were also called. CityWalk is located in an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County and is policed by a sheriff’s substation as well as a private security force and the LAPD.

No one was injured in the fight and none of the suspects were carrying weapons, authorities said.

The six men were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. They were identified as Charvel Hamilton, Ryan Monte and Dereck Washington, all 18; and Theodore Montgomery, 19, Damien Roe, 20, and Timothy Clem, 21.

A 15-year-old juvenile was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and a 17-year-old was arrested for misdemeanor battery.

All but the 17-year-old were in custody Saturday, Parker said.

Bullard said the impact of the incident would be negligible. “I don’t think it’s going to affect tourism,” the spokeswoman said. “I think the general public realizes that Universal CityWalk is a very safe place to dine, shop or be a tourist. This is a very rare incident for us.”

But according to Sheriff’s Department incident reports from last summer, the site has had several violent fights. Since then, the rules have been toughened.

Sgt. Guy Earl of the sheriff’s substation at CityWalk said deputies enforce the county’s 10 p.m. curfew for minors. “If kids are just hanging out, then they have to leave,” Earl said. “If they are doing something, like having dinner or seeing a movie, then they leave them alone.”

Last August, a fight erupted between gang members and members of the Los Angeles Valley College football team. The confrontation sent visitors fleeing for cover, sheriff’s reports said.

In September, members of two gangs fought over a girlfriend in front of the Wolfgang Puck Cafe at CityWalk, according to sheriff’s reports. There were no arrests.

Later that month, an 18-year-old Los Angeles man was stabbed in one of the theaters adjacent to CityWalk. The man’s attackers fled before sheriff’s deputies arrived.

At the time, deputies said they feared that the tourist attraction was also bringing in gang members.

“Four or five years ago, gangs used to see Universal as a neutral place, someplace you could take your girlfriend or wife,” Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Campbell said last summer. “Now there are confrontations between them. The air of neutrality is gone.”

The Sheriff’s Department said Saturday that current CityWalk crime statistics are unavailable.

However, Brian Singer, who works at Cafe Puccino, said Saturday: “The sheriff’s deputies that were in here drinking coffee this morning said this kind of stuff happens every weekend.”