A massive Santa Barbara party turned into a nightmare, ending with 100 revelers arrested

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A massive Santa Barbara party turned into a nightmare, ending with 100 revelers arrested
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A college party in Santa Barbara, Calif., turned into a riot Saturday night, resulting in the arrest of at least 100 people and the hospitalization of a sheriff's deputy who was hit in the face with a brick.

The party, dubbed Deltopia, drew about 15,000 people to the Isla Vista community near the University of California, Santa Barbara. According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, at about 9:30 p.m. a disturbance broke out, and a UCSB police officer who came to the scene was hit in the head with a backpack filled with bottles of alcohol. An arrest was made, and the crowd became wild — revelers ripped down stop signs, set fires, damaged vehicles, and hurled rocks and bottles at authorities.



Despite using tear gas, pepper spray, and flash-bang grenades, law enforcement officers were unable to restore order for several hours, and at least five deputies were injured, including the officer who was hit in the face with a brick, the Los Angeles Times reports. Dozens of partygoers were also treated at area hospitals. Of course, the night was chronicled on social media; see the tweets below to get a sense of the chaos. --Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.