The buzzer sounded and the fans roared

The buzzer sounded and the fans roared

Westwood drowns in a sea of Bruins in search of celebration

streets in revelry

By Julie Ann Silva, Alisa Ulferts

and Phillip Carter

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Mass mayhem erupted in Westwood Village Monday night when
thousands of students stormed the village to celebrate UCLA’s first
NCAA title win in 20 years.

When the buzzer sounded, signaling the Bruin basketball team’s
long-awaited victory, a collective roar rocked the village.

Hundreds of students ran chanting, drove cars honking and formed
a sea of roaring fans as they streamed out onto the streets.

Fans climbed up traffic lights, swayed in trees and celebrated
in mass chaos ­ with the hub of the activity centered outside
Maloney’s Bar on Gayley Avenue. Perched precariously on traffic
light poles, exuberant Bruins led cheers and the fight song.

Excitement ran high as smiling fans posed for cameras hoping to
be in commercials after rumors broke out that beer companies were
filming in Westwood. Others saluted hovering helicopters with
victory signs and strangers embraced.

But the frenzy soon heightened and spread throughout the
village.

The mob of joyous, rowdy students and fans numbered in the
thousands, as hundreds of riot police from the Los Angeles Police
Department tried to impose order on the crowd.

LAPD officials confirmed 15 arrests for charges including
assaults on police officers and drunken behavior.More than 20
persons were treated at UCLA Medical Center Emergency Room forminor
injuries and seven LAPD officers also sustained injuries in Monday
night’s melee.

Students were thrown aside as police in full riot gear
forcefully parted the crowd. Masses of celebrators became
angry.

"We’re just trying to have fun," screamed one outraged student
as he was shoved onto the sidewalk.

And some people met with violence.

"I went to give the police officer a high five, and the fucking
cop hit me with the fucking baton," said Brian Navabpour, a junior
English student, as he wiped the blood off his chin. Friends led a
disoriented Navabpour to the side of the throng.

The threat of violence grew as the police forced their way to
the center of the intersection, pointing guns armed with rubber
bullets and tear gas at the indignant crowd. Fans overturned a
KIIS-FM radio van and jumped onto the vehicle, shattering glass and
causing the police to intensify crowd control efforts.

"We are on a citywide tactical alert," said Officer Arthur
Holmes, spokesman for the LAPD. "Tactical alert is the preliminary
stage of a mobilization. We’ll hold those officers over from 3 p.m.
to midnight. That’s about 5,000 (officers); we have 18 divisions,
and we can call in officers from all those divisions … if need
be."

Two hundred LAPD officers from nine divisions sealed off
Westwood, LAPD Commander Tim McBride said.

Back on campus in the undergraduate residence halls, front desk
attendants reported increased student activity, but said no
restrictions were placed on entering or leaving the dorms.

"A lot of people have been coming in and out ­ I guess if
things get worse my supervisor will tell me," said Dan Hagerty,
front-desk attendant at Dykstra Hall.

Despite this, graduate life at Mira Hershey Hall remained
unaffected by the celebration.

But chaos still reigned on Westwood’s streets.

"Somebody threw a bottle at the cops and it hit me," said a
dazed and injured UCLA student who refused to be identified.

There were reports of police officers using pepper spray on the
crowd.

"I was at the very front of the police line," said Tina
Werkheiser, a senior psychology student. "Everyone started running
across. I was moving backwards, away from the police. A cop looked
straight at me and sprayed mace straight in my face."

But Commander McBride denied the use of any chemical sprays,
saying civilians were responsible for such instances. Police
maintained that their forceful tactics were necessary.

"(Students) should have left. When it becomes a riotous
situation, they have to leave. And when they don’t, they’re
breaking the law," said Officer Girmes, who declined to give his
first name. "The only people that got pushed around are those who
refused to leave."

In the course of an hour, police pushed back the crowd that had
gathered, blocking traffic at the corner of Weyburn and Gayley.
People reassembled at the corner of Broxton and Gayley, and then
Westwood Boulevard, but were forced out of the area by police.

By 10 p.m., it was reported that the streets of the village had
been cleared, but eyewitnesses cited that hundreds of people still
remained. About 200 police continued sweeping the streets. Some
students and other celebrators had retreated to their homes. Others
were reportedly heading back onto campus, where police ordered that
buildings be evacuated and closed around 10:30 p.m. The Community
Service Officers campus escort services were curtailed for safety
reasons, officials said.

Many students voiced dissatisfaction with police response to the
situation.

"I think they definitely overreacted," said Edward Cantrell, a
junior psychology student. "They almost insinuated that we were
going to riot."

With reports from Betty Song, James Snyder and Princeton
Kim.