100 Arrested, 44 Hospitalized After Wild College Partiers Attack Police in Southern CA (VIDEO)
100 were arrested and 44 were hospitalized after a wild spring break party called Deltopia in Southern California turned into a violent melee Saturday. 15,000 college-aged students from the nearby University of California, Santa Barbara and the surrounding area came together to party in Isla Vista, but by nighttime, the festivities had devolved into stabbings, throwing rocks and bottles, lighting fires, and fighting police.
The 100 arrests were traced back to a single incident: one youth bashed a police officer in the face with a backpack filled with three large bottles of alcohol, Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, told the Associated Press. From there, fights broke out and the crowd began pelting police with whatever they could find— one officer was injured by a brick to the face, and two others were hit by bottles.
"Our community is in shock today over what happened last night,'' Hoover said. "It's unbelievable to see people throwing rocks, bricks and bottles and beer cans at law enforcement officers.''
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The violent mob ripped out stop signs, lit small fires, smashed in the windows of police and emergency vehicles, and injured six police officers in the process, USA Today reported. Controlling the crowd required backup from nearby Ventura County, AP reported.
"It was an emergency situation where we had to call in mutual aid," Hoover explained. "They have had civil disturbances before in Isla Vista, but it has been many years since something like this."
Authorities showed up with an armored SWAT vehicle and used foam projectiles, flash bang grenades and tear gas to control the crowd. From there arrests were made both at the scene and afterwards, while several police and partiers were hospitalized. All of them were released by Sunday morning.
The University of California, Santa Barbara released a statement saying that the annual party was not sanctioned by the school and that sanctions will be applied to any students who violated school policy. Police stated that although the 23,000 residents of Isla Vista are 60 percent students, the brawl Saturday night can't completely be pinned on them.
"It really was ridiculous," Hoover said. "Deltopia attracts out-of-towners who come in and are not invested in our community and there are some who come to cause trouble."
