Cinco de Mayo activities turn up 32 arrests

Stefanie Frith

Newport Beach police arrested 32 people Saturday night as a result of

Cinco de Mayo festivities, police said. Two injuries were reported.

Police received 77 calls Saturday night, 42 percent resulting in

arrests, Sgt. Mike McDermott said. Comparatively, he said over the Fourth

of July, police arrested about 80 people, and over St. Patrick’s Day,

about 40 people were taken in. A normal Saturday night only results in

about 12 to 15 arrests, he said.

A woman was taken to Western Medical Center’s trauma center after

suffering possible spinal cord injuring when she and a friend fell off a

second-story balcony on the Balboa Peninsula at about 1 a.m., McDermott

said. The 200-pound man fell on top of her. She was listed in critical

condition, McDermott said.

Another woman hit her head on the ground in the 7-Eleven parking lot

at 20th Street and Balboa Boulevard, McDermott said. She suffered serious

bleeding in her brain as a result of the incident, he said.

“She [and her friends] had been drinking and she stumbled and her

boyfriend fell on top of her and she hit her head,” McDermott said. “They

were stopping for more beer.”

A 19-year-old was also arrested after she was caught urinating in the

middle of 30th Street with her dress pulled up over her ears, McDermott

said.

“She was really drunk,” McDermott said. “We even had some guys call us

this morning [Sunday] who were so drunk last night that they forgot where

they had parked their cars. They wanted our help.”

Another incident occurred when a man booked a limousine with a

counterfeit credit card and license, and racked up $1400 in bills as he

drove around Newport Beach.

“He was just drinking it up in the limo, cruising around,” McDermott

said. “What a night. We were very, very busy. It was a tough night for

drunks.”

Meanwhile, however, Costa Mesa police had nothing out of the ordinary

to report.

“It’s funny how when Newport Beach is wild, we’re really quiet,” Sgt.

Mike Ginther said.