Police face off with large, disorderly crowd in downtown LA

A modified tactical alert was activated on Saturday night when officers faced off with a large, disorderly crowd near a special event in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said Sunday.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that a fire marshal was dispatched to First and Hill streets at 6:45 p.m., where “a large crowd” was “acting unorderly and causing possible property damage to a passenger service vehicle,” LAFD spokeswoman Jennifer Middleton said.

A Waymo car got stuck in the middle of the crowd and was damaged, ABC7 reported.

The incident took place at an event sponsored by a skateboarding magazine, according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Division.

NBC4 reported the “Halloween Hellbomb” was a permitted skateboarding event, according to an organizer. “Unfortunately, near the end of the evening, a group of individuals acted outside of the event’s control, and some isolated incidents occurred,” he told the station.

“People attending the event vandalized property and failed to disperse when requested to do so,” LAPD said in a statement. “As officers continued to attempt to disperse the crowd, a person riding a skateboard at speed, attempted to run into a line of officers. Others threw bottles and skateboard parts at the line of officers.”

One injured person was evaluated by paramedics, Middleton said. The patient’s gender, age and condition were not available.

“Officers were able to clear the streets with less than lethal tactics and the damaged vehicles and vandalized property is being documented,” police said in the statement.

One person was arrested, NBC4 reported, though the reason was unclear.

A modified tactical alert allows for holding over police shifts without disrupting routine officer responses elsewhere.