7 Arrested as Party Turns Into Melee

GLENDALE — Glendale and Burbank police spent three hours trying to bring under control about 200 party-goers who became angry when a police officer arrested a youth for public intoxication, authorities said Sunday.

Seven people--including three boys under 18--were arrested when Glendale police responded to a call of loud music at a party in the 400 block of West Elk Avenue about 9:30 p.m.

The trouble began when some members of the crowd came to the aid of the youth as an officer tried to arrest him for possessing alcohol and being intoxicated, police said.

The woman officer was pulled inside a crowd of people and beaten, police said. After officers rescued her from the crowd, they retreated and summoned help. About 30 officers from the Burbank Police Department responded.

Some people in the crowd began throwing beer bottles and cans at the police and their vehicles, officers said.

With help from Burbank police, Glendale officers arrested seven people on charges ranging from lynching to felony assault on a police officer to resisting arrest.

The officer was treated for a minor head injury and released, authorities said.

Police on Sunday would not identify the officer involved nor any of the suspects, said Glendale Police Sgt. Richard Navarro.

Glendale police said all seven suspects violently resisted.

But party-goers--including the parents of one man who was arrested--said police randomly singled out people from the crowd and ruined what had been an orderly party.

Rosario Huerta, 50, and her husband, Santiago, were subdued with pepper spray when they approached a Glendale officer to ask about the arrest of their son, Jaime, 19, and their grandson, Santiago, Mrs. Huerta said Sunday.

Huerta said the officer struck her son for no reason.

“I saw this. Everybody saw this and got mad because the police aren’t supposed to do things like that,” she said.

One of the boys arrested received a head injury during the melee. He was treated and later booked at the Glendale Police Department, authorities said.

One man tried to videotape the event, but several party-goers said police officers aimed flashlights and a patrol car spotlight at the video camera to obstruct the image.