A large, rowdy July 4th celebration on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach erupted in chaos Saturday evening as fights broke out, fireworks were thrown at police and dozens of people – perhaps as many as 100 – were reportedly arrested.
Video from the scene shows police on horseback charging into the crowd on the beach to break up unruly revelers.
“A Pavilions was ransacked and completely trashed outside … teens that were arrested for curfew violations had to be picked up by their parents. Newport Beach called for county-wide help for situation …” wrote OC Hawk, a freelance news videographer.
Officers arrived at the scene on the 3100 block of West Balboa Boulevard after people began stealing items and throwing them at the front of the Pavilions, freelance videographer County News reported. “The situation escalated and police issued a “999” — an officer needs help call — prompting at least a hundred officers from surrounding agencies to converge on the location.”
“Authorities said people continued fighting and threw fireworks at police officers,” ABC7 reported.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department sent deputies to assist the police department, sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. She could not specify how many people were arrested.
“Newport (Peninsula) had a literal riot and the entire place is locked down with more cops than I knew existed, most insane I’ve ever seen down here,” a poster wrote on Reddit on Saturday evening. “No one can come or go right now, it’s all shut down. Cops are out in riot gear and they had to call other cities to help.
“I had to drive through a checkpoint with heavily armed police to get home, I don’t know how it got so out of control but it’s gridlocked right now,” the poster said.
Another wrote, “This explains a lot. I was doing Uber and was getting insane surges from that area, and wasn’t even remotely close.”
Police are expected to release more details on Sunday.
After past troubles with partying and disruptive behavior in areas of the city popular with vacationers, Newport Beach city leaders instituted new rules and restrictions in “special enforcement zones.”
Over spring break in 2025, some 500 people were arrested, and last year’s July 4th holiday saw 76 arrests.
Earlier this year, the council approved stricter enforcement and upped the fines for violations in hot spots including the Balboa Peninsula, West Newport and Corona Del Mar to discourage bad behavior.
Officials said at the time a lot of vacation rentals being used for house parties. The new rules included stricter conditions for short-term rentals.
This is a developing story. Additional information will be reported as it becomes available.
Staff writer Claire Wang and City News Service contributed to this report.