Firefighter Among 7 Arrested In Huntington Beach Rioting After Surfing Event
HUNTINGTON BEACH (AP) - A firefighter was among those arrested after a raucous mob broke windows, looted and fought in the streets of Huntington Beach following the U.S. Open of Surfing, police and city officials said Tuesday.
Michael Lytle, 30, of Anaheim was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest Sunday night, the Orange County Register reported.
Lytle is a city firefighter in Fullerton and has been placed on leave for an internal investigation while Huntington Beach police conduct the criminal investigation, Gretchen Beatty, Fullerton's head of human resources, told the Register.
Six other men were arrested, all of them from Southern California and between 18 and 28 years old, the Los Angeles Times reported.
More than 100 police officers responded in the city that bills itself as "Surf City USA" after a fight broke out across from the beach where thousands of spectators had gathered for the popular nine-day U.S. Open of Surfing.
The mob toppled portable toilets, threw items from rooftops and smashed car windows along a strip lined with restaurants, bars and surf and skate shops.
More than 100 police officers worked to break up the melee. Some fired pepper balls and rubber projectiles.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
