Violence heats up with summer

Jenny Marder

A full moon, sticky, humid weather and scores of summertime tourists

crowding Downtown Huntington Beach resulted in numerous violent

fights and an overall rise in crime last week, police said.

On July 14, a 19-year-old man from Brea died from severe head

injuries as a result of a fight that sent him head first onto the

pavement after being struck. The next night, four Huntington

residents and one Rohnart Park resident were stabbed in a fight that

broke out Downtown on Main Street.

“In general, heat in combination with alcohol is a volatile

combination,” Huntington Beach Police Lt. Janet Perez said. “That

will sometimes create an uptick in fights.”

It is not uncommon to see a rise in crime in the summertime, Perez

said, when both streets and beaches are more crowded with people

visiting from other cities.

No one was critically injured as a result of the stabbing on July

15, but four men were taken to nearby hospitals to be treated. Three

men, James Jones, 21, Eric Schmidt, 20, and Christian Hanson, 21,

were arrested that night on suspicion of attempted homicide.

Police say the fight was not gang related, but alcohol related.

Many of those involved had been drinking, Perez said. The cause of

the fight is still unknown.

The investigations for both brutal episodes are still underway.

These were the most violent, but fights are reported on a regular

basis, especially in the summer.

This week has been more calm, Perez said, although it hasn’t been

without its incidents.

A woman was shot in the leg while driving through the intersection

of Halifax Avenue and Hanover. She received only minor injuries and

was released at the scene after being treated by paramedics. No

suspect was found and the shooting is under investigation.

Although there are more fights in the summer, last week’s events

were something of an anomaly in Huntington Beach, Perez said.

“When there’s activity like these two incidents, they stand out,”

she said. “This is a city of 200,000 people. We are truly blessed

that we have the small amount of activity and criminal violence that

we do.”