Fourth of July unrest leads to beach closures, looting, arrests in Newport Beach
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Newport Beach police and city leaders are debriefing after unruly crowds, possibly responding to reports about a “TikTok Takeover,” caused chaos Saturday on the city’s streets, leading to the arrest of more than 400 individuals largely from out of town.
Although the city played host to largely peaceful daytime crowds, Fourth of July festivities by nighttime had reached a fever pitch as juveniles and young adults arrived in droves to the city’s Peninsula and pier, blocking roadways and restricting emergency vehicle access.
Update:
11:57 a.m. July 7, 2026This story has been updated to include comments provided by Newport Beach city and police officials Monday.
Individuals were seen setting off illegal fireworks in the middle of large crowds, while others engaged in fights and vandalized a Pavilions market, throwing produce and grocery items out into the street, according to police, who arrested numerous individuals Saturday night.
“We had a large unruly crowd of close to 3,000 people fighting and causing massive disruption from 29th street to 35th street,” Deputy Chief of Police Joshua Vincelet told the Daily Pilot in an email Sunday.
“It was necessary for us to utilize a large contingent of officers to clear the beach and restore order,” he wrote. “This process took almost two hours, but we accomplished an orderly environment for families and residents trying to enjoy the beach.”
Newport Beach Police Department equine officers, as well as assistance from Fullerton, helped with the crowd control, Vincelet said.
NBPD spokesperson Heather Rangel said, “There were numerous calls for service throughout the day that required officers to respond with lights and sirens.” She confirmed that a fight broke out on 32nd Street and a crowd had to be dispersed.
By Sunday morning, more than 400 people had been taken into police custody — a 570% increase from 2025 — with about half being people who remained on the Peninsula after police issued a dispersal order, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A Times review of the department’s arrest log showed arrestees from Arizona, Nevada, the Inland Empire, San Diego, Los Angeles and other cities in Orange County.
Joe DeJulio, president of the Newport Beach Police Assn., in a message Sunday applauded the efforts of local law enforcement agencies for responding to the incident and blaming the disorder on “a large group of agitators invaded Newport Beach, spurred on by an alleged TikTok Takeover.
“These persons came to our city with the intent on causing harm, injury, and destruction, bringing harassment, disturbances and mayhem,” DeJulio wrote.
Several people in nearby neighborhoods Saturday took to social media, describing and depicting the pandemonium along with the massive police response it drew.
A vacationing family witnessed a rowdy crowd on the beach near seashore and 32nd Street, according to their social media post. They captured a scene of police creating a line as they cleared crowds off the beach, between 28th and 36th streets.
At 8:25 p.m. NBPD sent alerts to residents via Newport Notified stating that, “Due to large unruly crowds in the area of 26th street and the beach an unlawful assembly has been placed. All residents are asked to shelter in place until further notice.”
By 10 p.m., crowds spooled out of control at Pavilions grocery store parking lot on West Balboa Boulevard. A second alert issued by police at 10:50 p.m. advised residents all beaches had been closed and officers were actively clearing traffic from the Peninsula.
The scene on Sunday morning was much quieter, though the mess left behind cluttered streets and sidewalks. Some local residents made their way out to the Pavilions parking lot, pitching in to help restore the neighborhood grocery store to normalcy.
Local real estate agent Bill Forsythe, who was on his way to his office at Engel & Voelkers on Shipyard Way, stopped in for coffee at Starbucks inside Pavilions Sunday morning as the clean-up was taking place.
“I spoke to a man who lived on 28th Street, who had seen the incident last night and came out this morning to help clean up the parking lot,” Forsythe said.
“He said the unruly people were throwing large fireworks like cherry bombs into the crowd, and he had heard that many were from out of state.”
In the months leading up to the July 4 holiday weekend, city leaders braced for an influx of visitors, establishing a “Not in Newport” zero-tolerance campaign.
Officials designated the West Newport, Balboa Peninsula and Corona del Mar areas as Safety Enhancement Zones — where fines for infractions like lighting illegal fireworks or drinking in public would be tripled — and gave city enforcers broader authority to crack down on house parties at short-term rental properties.
Newport Beach Police Chief Dave Miner in June told the City Council the department planned to double mutual aid assistance from outside law enforcement agencies to more than 60 personnel and set up a staging area off Superior Avenue with a mobile booking station on-site.
In a city release issued Monday, after the signs of indiscriminate revelry had been cleared up and order restored, Miner praised the efforts of public safety personnel.
“The extensive planning that went into this holiday, combined with the professionalism of our officers and our mutual aid partners, allowed us to respond quickly to a dangerous situation, restore order and protect the thousands of residents and visitors who came to Newport Beach to celebrate responsibly,” he said.
Assistant editor Sara Cardine contributed to this report.
