Dozens brawl at luxury California hotel, at least 2 hospitalized and 2 arrested

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As many as 100 people brawled inside and outside the Cambria Hotel & Suites in Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 5, with at least two people hospitalized, and two taken into custody, police said.

Just before 12:40 p.m. officers were called to the luxury hotel, which opened in December at 101 East Katella Ave., for a fight in the lobby, Anaheim police Sgt. Shane Carringer said.

“The officers arrive and were immediately met with about 40 people fighting outside,” Carringer said.

Inside there was another massive combative group of perhaps 50 to 60, he said.

The two hospitalized had minor lacerations, police said.

“It was men and women, adults and juveniles,” Carringer said, calling the situation “pandemonium.”

“It sounds like people had broomsticks and whatever objects they could find in the hotel,” he said.

All of those involved in the fight were patrons and guests of the hotel, Carringer said. A number of them were told to leave by hotel staff, he said.

A hotel manager was not immediately available to comment when reached by phone.

Police did not immediately know what sparked the melee, but said it began in the pool area of the hotel. Carringer said there was nothing to suggest that everyone in the brawl were familiar with one another.

“It looks like it just snowballed, and developed and grew,” he said.

After the brawl, about a dozen people in swimming attire gathered in the hotel’s parking lot after the brawl, with officers asking them questions.

Dozens of officers, some on motorcycles, circled the area.

Carringer said many witnesses or those involved in the fight were unwilling to share what they saw, and those that did gave conflicting accounts. Detectives planned to review surveillance video in hopes of better understanding what happened.

Police took a man and a boy into custody and they were booked on suspicion of fighting in public and obstructing a peace officer, police said.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies also responded to help due to the size of the incident, police said.

Carringer said the hotel was on lockdown while officers checked the building to see if any others needed medical help. The hotel returned to full operation by Wednesday evening.

Billed as a luxury hotel set with a 30,000-square-foot water park, outdoor movie wall, and putting green, the Cambria is situated several blocks from Disneyland.

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Author: Alma Fausto, Jonah Valdez

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