Two people suffered stab wounds and two were arrested after a large brawl at a Southern California hotel that involved as many as 100 people, police said.
Officers found 60 to 100 people involved in a fight in a parking lot outside and in the lobby of the Cambria Hotel around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, said Sgt. Shane Carringer, an Anaheim police spokesman.
“People did arm themselves with makeshift weapons. It appears they used broomsticks and the legs of chairs,” Carringer said. “It was obviously a chaotic scene.”
Two people suffered lacerations that Carringer described as stab wounds, but the injuries were not life-threatening, he said.
Every officer available, about 50 or 60, was dispatched to separate the two groups, as well as 10 officers from Orange County, Carringer said. There were no injuries to police or hotel staff, and the fight was contained to guests, he said.
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The Cambria Hotel, which is relatively new, has a pool and water park, Carringer said. The hotel’s website says the pool and water park is open but with social distancing rules because of the coronavirus epidemic.
A person who answered the phone at the front desk said a manager was not immediately available and said to call back Thursday. A representative for the company that franchised the hotel, but which does not own it, said it was looking into the situation.
The fight and what prompted it are under investigation, Carringer said.
Witnesses told local television station KTLA that the fight was sparked after someone accidentally pushed a child into a pool.
A juvenile was arrested, as well as one other person, Carringer said. Both were accused of fighting in public and resisting an officer, which are misdemeanors, and they were issued citations and released, he said.
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Police along with the Orange County Health Care Agency will investigate whether the hotel has been following rules in place because of the coronavirus epidemic.
“We are reaching out to staff to learn if there have been any COVID-related issues at this location,” a spokesman for the health care agency said in an email.
Because of the number of people involved, police did a floor-by-floor search of the hotel. It is not unusual for police to respond to fights, but “what was noteworthy was the amount of people involved,” Carringer said.
There are no conventions in Anaheim, Carringer said. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, which is also in Anaheim, are closed.
“This is a big hotel with a water park,” Carringer said. “People are coming to spend their time there.”
