Police Disperse Horde Drawn by Knott’s 5-Cent Deal

BUENA PARK —  Drawn in part by television and radio promotions, tens of thousands of youths converged on Knott’s Berry Farm for a Cinco de Mayo celebration Wednesday, disrupting traffic and commerce and sparking scattered violence.

When more than 200 officers in riot gear arrived at the scene just before noon, they faced a hail of rocks and bottles. Some teens began fighting with each other and stopped traffic on nearby streets.

The officers eventually restored order, but the disturbances forced officials to close down one of Southern California’s largest amusement parks several hours earlier than normal.

The event’s 5-cent admission price had been heavily publicized on KIIS-FM (102.7), a music station popular among teens, and Spanish-language station KMEX-TV Channel 34.

Educators from nearby school districts blamed the celebration for unusually high absenteeism.

About 33,000 visitors were admitted to the park in Buena Park before officials closed the gates at 10 a.m., leaving about 4,000 frustrated youths milling outside. Typical attendance for a weekday during the school year is 4,500.

After riot police cleared the area outside the park, the general manager of Knott’s issued an apology for the promotion, which he described as misguided.

“It wasn’t intended in any sense to create truancy or harm to schools,” said Jack Falfas. “If anything, I myself made the mistake of permitting the promotion . . . and having to tell some people that they couldn’t come in.”

Fearing mass student absenteeism, officials from several school districts had called the park over the last few days to implore managers to postpone the event until after school hours.

“We think [all] parties exercised very poor judgment in having a promotion during school time,” said Alan Trudell, spokesman for the Garden Grove Unified School District, where attendance dropped by 17%. At Warren High School in Downey, 65% of the students did not come to class.

The first sign of trouble occurred early in the morning, when traffic along Beach Boulevard--one of Orange County’s major highways--jammed with cars heading toward the theme park. The gridlock eventually snarled traffic on the Santa Ana and Riverside freeways during the morning commute.

Customers inside the park described it as so crowded that they could not enjoy the rides.

“You couldn’t even walk around. It was just strollers and teenagers,” said June Lovell, a Westminster woman who had hoped to enjoy the nice weather but left early because of the crowds.

After a while, visitors said, some of the crowd began to get unruly.

“There were fights everywhere,” said Rick Alonso, 16, of Rowland Heights.

Police said most of the fights occurred among the teenagers who were unable to get into the park.

There was little or no damage to property inside or surrounding the park, however.

Several nearby businesses closed their doors during the disruptions.

Betty Lidyard, assistant manager of the Crystal Factory, said her shop lost thousands of dollars in business as customers stayed away to avoid the chaos outside. She said she was furious at the park for failing to notify local merchants about the possible disruption.

Chris Mott, manager of a nearby doll store, agreed. “It happens every holiday, but this is the worst I’ve seen,” he said. “They shouldn’t be able to do this. This is going to cost taxpayers from all over Orange County.”

By 2 p.m., police had dispersed the crowd outside and arrested six juveniles. Police and park officials then slowly emptied the theme park.

Both Buena Park police and Knott’s officials said it remained unclear whether taxpayers will foot the bill for the massive law enforcement response or whether the park will reimburse the city.

The celebration was designed to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Buena Park. Officials said they raised $10,333 in gate receipts and donations made by visitors.

KIIS-FM disc jockey Rick Dees began talking up the 5-cent admission price Friday. Wednesday morning, as mariachi bands played, KIIS began broadcasting live from the park. The radio station was joined by several TV crews, said Knott’s spokeswoman Dana Hammontree.

A similar promotion by Dees when the park opened its Windjammer roller coaster a few years ago went off without problems, Hammontree said.

But a Dees-promoted Halloween party at Disneyland involving free admission for park-goers who arrived early in the morning created similar problems a few years back, when rowdy youths caused extensive damage to the Anaheim park.

Richard Kinzel, chief executive of Knott’s parent company, Ohio-based Cedar Fair, said the company made a major miscalculation with Wednesday’s event and will have to reassess its promotions strategy.

“I think we misunderstood how popular Cinco de Mayo is,” Kinzel said. “And also we had a national DJ there. Basically, we underestimated the response.”

KIIS general manager Roy Laughlin said the participation of KMEX was critical in attracting the larger than expected crowd.

“I think we underestimated the power of that giveaway,” Laughlin said. “We were partners with KMEX-TV, and their draw with our draw was overwhelming. We should have just done it alone.”

A KMEX spokeswoman, Patricia Ramos, said the station’s role in the promotion was limited, involving only cutaways from a news program between 6 and 7 a.m. to broadcast weather reports from Knott’s and mention the 5-cent admission.

“We try to be very cautious and careful,” she said. “Our audience tends to be very responsive to the locations, but they aren’t inclined to get out of hand.”

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Times staff writers Richard Marosi, Megan Garvey, Daryl Strickland, Leslie Earnest, Brady McDonald and Lisa Richardson and correspondent Harrison Sheppard contributed to this report.