Fourth of July festivities relatively quiet

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Despite a few minor gang skirmishes and several arrests for driving under the influence, Santa Barbara’s Fourth of July festivities remained relatively quiet, authorities said, booming fireworks aside.
Santa Barbara police arrested five people on DUI charges, including two who caused traffic accidents, Police Spokesman Lt. Paul McCaffrey said. Officers also took seven people into custody for gang-related offenses, including fighting and violating probation.

Police arrested Gayle Douglas Mitchell for driving while intoxicated after he repeatedly struck several vehicles at 200 E. Valerio St. in Santa Barbara.
“Mitchell, 67, a transient, drove his 1984 Ford Bronco into a parked Toyota pickup,” McCaffrey said. “As he backed up to free himself, he struck a moving Honda Accord. He pulled forward and hit the pickup again. He backed up, went forward again and this time hit a parked Toyota Camry. He then backed up and knocked over a “no parking” sign.”
Officers took Mitchell into custody for DUI offenses, driving on a suspended license, and a warrant from a prior DUI conviction, McCaffrey said.
Victoria Alatorrie, 41, of Los Angeles, sideswiped several vehicles along 300 W. Anapamu St., authorities said. McCaffrey said Alatorrie’s friend had been drinking heavily and handed her car keys over to Alatorrie, who had also been drinking heavily.
“Alatorrie only made it a block and a half before sideswiping her friend’s Acura into a parked Honda and a BMW,” McCaffrey said, adding that the Acura sustained major damage while the other two cars received moderate damage.
Alatorrie fled the scene, but officers tracked her down a block and a half away, authorities said, arresting her for driving under the influence, being unlicensed, and hit-and-run.
Officers also arrested Rodolpho Garcia, 20, for possession of alcohol, resisting arrest and a $5,000 warrant, and Octavio Marin, 19, for fighting, police said. In addition, authorities took three 17-year-olds, a 14-year-old and a 13-year-old into custody on a variety of charges, including challenging to fight, fighting in public, violation of probation, and committing a crime in furtherance of a street gang.
Several gang fights occurred during and after the conclusion of the fireworks show at West Beach, McCaffrey said.
“Minutes after the fireworks began, spectators witnessed gang members engage in a few one-on-one fist fights [at the intersection of State and Cabrillo streets],” McCaffrey said. “The fighting only lasted seconds and the participants quickly melted into the crowd.”
After the fireworks display, fights also occurred at the 200 block of State Street, police said.
“Numerous police officers arrived and the rival gangs retreated to their respective territories,” McCaffrey said. “...There were no reports of injury or use of weapons.”
Other than those incidents, McCaffrey said that problems were “limited to scarce parking and snarled traffic following the show.”
Santa Barbara Fire Department Battalion Chief John Ahlman agreed, calling Wednesday “particularly quiet.”
“We really didn’t have any out-of-the-ordinary incidents,” Ahlman said. “We thank the public for cooperation with their activities that day, because we were very, very safe.”