Police had to intervene Saturday evening when a party at the Colorado Lagoon ended in a fight.
The department said about 15 people were gathered at the lagoon near Nieto Avenue when police were called around 7:30 p.m.
A neighbor who provided video of the incident to the Long Beach Post said the gathering was a baby shower where there was heavy drinking, and during the party, “a man from that group decided to beat up his girlfriend, and then she smashed a chair over his head, right in front of the kids at the party.”
Police confirmed a woman hit a man with a glass bottle and a chair during an argument.
The first officer to arrive then saw the man kick her in the lower body, according to Long Beach Police Department spokesperson Eric Stachura.
“The officer attempted to de-escalate the situation,” Stachura said, but the man wouldn’t comply and the officer used a Taser to arrest him.
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When more officers arrived, they also took the woman into custody and booked both of them into jail on suspicion of domestic violence, Stachura said. The man was also booked on suspicion of public intoxication and resisting arrest, and the woman was also booked on suspicion of battery, according to Stachura.
The fight comes about a month after a high-profile incident at Colorado Lagoon that left other neighbors worried about the response to crime in the area.
After March 25, when about 100 young people gathered at the lagoon and graffitied the sidewalks and lifeguard building, Councilmember Kristina Duggan said she started getting emails and seeing social media comments from residents.
One email provided to the Long Beach Post asked why there “were no arrests after these minors were actively tagging and drinking while in police presence” before they finally left after about 45 minutes.
Duggan said the small number of officers at the scene wanted to keep the situation from escalating, and, and that’s what they were able to do.
That meant the city was left with some graffiti damage, “But it wasn’t thousands of dollars it was hundreds of dollars,” she said.
Duggan said she and residents want more law enforcement in the area, but a large number of vacancies at the police department has made it more difficult to respond to lower-priority crime.
Duggan urged residents to call 911 any time they see a crime so police can accurately asses where to deploy officers.