Fourth of July in Hermosa Beach was a busy holiday for the city’s emergency services, with mounted police dispersing a huge teenage party on the beach and the jail filling up at 10 p.m.
Sgt. Bob Higgins said in his 17 years with the department, the jail has reached maximum capacity only twice. Wednesday’s arrests made for the highest volume of arrests for a Fourth of July in the last four to five years.
After the 8-cell Hermosa jail filled up, officers brought offenders to the Redondo Beach Police Department, and also issued citations on the spot and released them to friends or family, Higgins said.
Police concentrated on the south end of the Strand at the 2nd Street beach where a cr
owd of 2,000 16- to 21-year-olds gathered, fueled by social media.
“It was crazy,” said Mayor Jeff Duclos, a volunteer citizen police officer. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Sheriff’s deputies on horseback cleared out concentrated pockets of partying at the 2nd Street beach late in the afternoon, scattering teenagers who left behind towels and trash.
“The horses are fantastic,” Higgins said. “We’ve been using them for four or five years. I don’t know how we did it before.”
Police responded to 341 calls for service, made 24 arrests, with 15 for public intoxication— compared to 11 arrests last year, including three for public intoxication.
Two men were charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly kicking another man in the head during a fight at 8th Street and Hermosa Avenue. Thomas Cortez and Edgar Gonzalez, both 20 and from Torrance, were released after posting a 5-10 percent bond on their $50,000 bail, police said.
The victim was transported to hospital and later released, Higgins said.
The police department had six less police officers than last year, and six less civilian officers, which include volunteers and community service officers, Higgins said.
The city hired 18 sheriff’s deputies and tripled the fines for alcohol violations for the holiday. About 54 officers were on duty.
Fire department Captain Mike Garofano said the fire department responded to 32 calls that were mostly alcohol and assault related, in addition to multiple calls for illegal fireworks. Paramedics transported several people that were “less than coherent” to local hospitals, Garofano said.
