Violent SLO Mardi Gras celebration turns 'very ugly'

Six officers from the San Luis Obispo Police Department were slightly injured over the weekend after the community's annual Mardi Gras festivities turned violent.

More than 200 officers from several area agencies - including 10 from the Santa Maria Police Department and several from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department - were deployed Saturday night and early Sunday morning to an out-of-control situation at a busy intersection near Cal Poly, said San Luis Police spokesman Rob Bryn.

Officers in full riot gear responded by firing nonlethal beanbags and tear gas into the 5,000-person crowd at the Mustang Village apartment complex near the intersection of California and Foothill boulevards.

"Quite frankly the attitude of the crowd was much different," Bryn said. "They were looking to cause a problem."

By Sunday night, more than 155 people - most college-age - had been arrested for charges stemming from parties associated with Mardi Gras. Many of those

arrested were from out of town, some from as far away as Florida and New Jersey, Bryn said.

Attendance at Sunday's parade, however, was lower than the previous year, partly because many out-of-town party-goers were already heading home, he said. About 25 people were arrested after the parade Sunday night, compared to the roughly 130 arrested Saturday night, Bryn added.

No major injuries were reported, but six officers suffered minor injuries from rocks and bottles thrown by rowdy party-goers Saturday night.

Party-goers also smashed the windshields of five police cruisers, Bryn said.

Officers from the Ventura and Santa Barbara sheriffs departments and California Highway Patrol also responded to the party, said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Sgt. John Giese.

The other agencies responded as part of a mutual-aid agreement that provides additional officers when those from one agency can no longer control a crowd, he said.

"It was a serious situation, serious enough to where our resources were pretty depleted," Giese said.

Despite the high number of arrests, the San Luis Obispo County Jail remained below capacity, as many of those arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public were released after four to five hours, he said.

Giese said the situation at the jail was no worse than a spike in arrests seen during the popular Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles.

"We're prepared at the jail," he said. "It's not like we've got them standing in the halls."

San Luis Police officers prepared for an increase in arrests over the weekend, but had not prepared for the vicious nature of the crowd, Bryn said.

This year was the most violent in recent history, he said.

"We've seen similar but not as violent," Bryn said. "It was very ugly."

Bryn said he did not know what this year's events may mean for the future of the event, which was scaled back in previous years, adding that any decisions about future Mardi Gras festivities will be left to the independent San Luis Obispo Mardi Gras committee.

* Staff writer Stephen Curran can be reached at 925-2691, Ext. 2256 or by e-mail at scurran@pulitzer.net.

Feb. 23, 2004