Juneteenth party at San Pablo Park sees fights, arrests
Several people were pepper-sprayed at the event, which drew an estimated 500 attendees, police said.
A large Juneteenth party in Berkeley on Friday saw fights and arrests, as well as reports of individuals being pepper-sprayed, authorities report.
The Juneteenth "day party" took place in San Pablo Park in West Berkeley for the second year running, according to posts on social media.
About 500 people attended the event, Berkeley police said in response to a Scanner inquiry.
The party is not to be confused with Berkeley's longstanding Juneteenth celebration at Alcatraz Avenue and Adeline Street, which began in 1987. That event comes Sunday.
Limited details about what happened Friday were available as of publication time, but police confirmed there had been multiple fights resulting in arrests, including of juveniles, at San Pablo Park.
Several people were pepper-sprayed amid the violence, authorities said.
A reader asked The Scanner for information about a large police presence at the park and many sirens in the area shortly before 7 p.m.
A promotional post about the 2nd Annual Berkeley Juneteenth Darty (day party) at San Pablo Park. Club Shamm
Writing on Instagram earlier this month, organizers Club Sham and The Collective social club described Friday afternoon's event at the park as the "biggest Juneteenth [day party] in the Bay," promising "food vendors, drinks, games, music, and nothing but good vibes" from 3-8 p.m.
Organizers urged attendees to "keep the energy safe, positive, and celebratory for everyone" and said they expected "a heavy Berkeley Police presence on-site monitoring the area," as was the case last year.
"For the safety of the community and the event, if you know you have a target on your back, you are strongly discouraged from coming," they wrote.
The Berkeley Juneteenth party was one of four 18+ "summer takeover" events planned by The Collective social club around the Bay Area. The others include events in Oakland for July Fourth and an August block party, and a Labor Day party at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Juneteenth party at San Pablo Park: Calls for service
The Scanner identified about 20 police and fire calls to San Pablo Park and the surrounding blocks Friday, according to the Berkeley Crime app, which pulls in local police and fire data from official feeds.
Berkeley police initially responded to the park shortly before 2 p.m. for an officer-initiated security check. Another security check followed about an hour later.
At about 4:40 p.m., someone called police for a welfare check at the park. Officers were there for about 30 minutes.
Just after 6 p.m., someone called 911 at the park. No additional details were available.
There was another 911 call at about the same time regarding a suspicious person north of the park and a report of a car blocking a driveway south of the park not long after.
Just after 6:45 p.m., the Berkeley Fire Department was dispatched to Oregon and Park streets for a medical emergency.
At 7:20 p.m., BFD was dispatched for a medical emergency at the park, a girl taken to Children's Hospital after being maced during a fight, according to preliminary reports.
Closer to 8 p.m. police and firefighters responded to Russell and Mabel streets for a medical emergency, a vandalism to a vehicle and a battery report.
There was also a 911 call about some kind of "suspicious circumstance" in the 1300 block of Derby Street, north of the park, shortly after 8 p.m.
BFD was sent to a medical emergency at 8:06 p.m. at Oregon and Park streets, followed by another medical emergency at the same location less than 30 minutes later.
Some kind of "public assist" call for BFD followed at the park at about 8:50 p.m.
A minute later, a dispatcher advised the Berkeley Fire Department to avoid Russell and Mabel streets because police were going "Code 3" — with lights and sirens — to that location.
"There's a lot of officers assembled at Park and Oregon," the dispatcher advised BFD. "It might be difficult to get through."
Berkeley police radio traffic became encrypted last year, which removed longstanding public access to transmissions that shed light on police calls in a timely manner.
Berkeley Fire Department traffic remains public but includes much less information.
According to basic call logs, police responded to two separate miscellaneous penal code violations at about 9:40 p.m., one of which listed an arrest of some kind.
There were also two battery calls listed, just after 9:40 p.m. and about 10 minutes later.
Police also listed a disturbance call at the park just before 10 p.m.
The Scanner will share additional details if they become available.
