4th of July Arrests Praised, Blasted in Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Police arrested more than 500 Fourth of July revelers in a massive show of force that drew thank-you calls from some residents Friday and angry complaints from others who said officers went too far in quelling potential trouble.

Police said about 90% of those arrested were booked into crowded city jail cells on charges of public drunkenness or drinking in public. Officers applied a municipal code section to some revelers drinking beer on their front porches and yards.

Among them was Gary Guenther, 28, who said he was arrested Thursday afternoon as he stood on the sidewalk outside his 19th Street home while sipping a beer and helping neighbors set up a Ping Pong table. His wife, Colleen, a pediatric nurse, said she was arrested for holding a near-empty beer bottle she had taken from a guest as she stood in the front yard.

“We just got arrested for having the alcohol out in public view,” said Gary Guenther, who works in construction and spent the night in jail. “We’re not the kind who cause trouble. I own my house. I pay taxes. We think what the police were doing was great, but I think they went overboard.”

Lt. Dan Johnson, the department’s spokesman, declined to comment on specific arrests, but said anyone who believes that their rights were violated should file a complaint with the department.

He said the department took a zero-tolerance approach to avoid the drunken melees that have led to violence on previous Independence Day celebrations in the city.

“We felt that if we took action early and set the tone early and said we weren’t going to tolerate any drinking in public or any violation of law at all, that would prevent problems later on,” Johnson said. “And it did.

“Our experience was the thing builds up and the parties get bigger and the people get more intoxicated and eventually we end up with a riotous situation.”

In years past, rowdy street parties, youthful revelers pelting officers with rocks and bottles, and drunken mobs who set sofas ablaze in the streets have become troubling holiday rituals in Huntington Beach. Police have struggled to find an enforcement tactic that works.

On Thursday, more than 200 officers patrolled the streets and there were no major disturbances.

Johnson said more than 30 people had called the department by midday to congratulate officers on the approach and thank them for making the holiday safe.

“The Police Department did an excellent job,” said Loretta Wolfe, co-chairwoman of the Downtown Residents Assn.

Mayor Dave Sullivan said he was happy with the city’s effort. “I’d say the plans worked well, and we sent the message that anyone who comes to Huntington Beach on July 4th and breaks the law will be arrested.”

Others questioned the legality of arresting people for drinking on private property.

Ron Talmo, a civil attorney and law professor, called the city’s interpretation of drinking in public “a stupid distinction by a hostile police force.”

A state appellate court has ruled that only the state--not cities--can regulate drinking, he said. In addition, Talmo said, there is a legal difference between drinking and being drunk.

“The difference is huge,” Talmo said. “ ‘In public’ means different things in different statutes, and it has to do with the purpose of the statute. What is Huntington Beach’s purpose? These people were doing what we want them to do, which is to stay at home.”

In neighboring Newport Beach, 200 police officers were on duty Thursday to handle holiday crowds, arresting 70 adults and 11 juveniles. Newport Beach Lt. Doug Fletcher said the city interprets its municipal code to allow drinking-in-public arrests only if the suspect is standing on public property.

But Johnson of Huntington Beach said the department researched the law and instructed officers on how to proceed based on a 1979 state court decision involving a man who was drunk on his porch.

“The interpretation is very simple: If the property is readily accessible to the public, that’s a lawful arrest for public intoxication” or drinking in public, Johnson said.

Many people who emerged haggard from the city jail Friday morning said they thought police had gone too far to ensure calm.

Huntington Beach resident Scott Bruza said officers slammed him against a van, pointed a rifle at him and arrested him while he was walking to a store to buy napkins for a family fireworks party. Bruza, 34, a set decorator for Warner Bros., said his only crime was walking past a boisterous party when a police van pulled up.

Times staff writer Geoff Boucher and correspondent Jeff Kass also contributed to this story.