Police Arrest 20 in Hollywood

[Updated 11:45 a.m.] Police are providing an updated figure of 20 people who were arrested overnight in Hollywood. Authorities initially reported 39 were arrested in an earlier version of this story.

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Twenty people were under arrest today, including one who assaulted a horse-mounted officer, after large crowds flocked to Hollywood Boulevard and fights broke out among unruly Halloween revelers, police said.

A large number of officers was deployed along Hollywood Boulevard starting Monday night to keep the crowds that traditionally form on Halloween in check, said Sgt. Raul Jovel of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station.

At one point, officers stopped traffic for a few minutes at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue to move crowds along the sidewalk and keep them from spilling into streets, he said.

Fights broke out along Hollywood Boulevard Monday night and early this morning, he said, including one involving an officer.

Sixteen horse-mounted officers were on Hollywood Boulevard to keep order when one man wouldn't get out of the street, Jovel said.

An officer dismounted to approach the man, he said. As he did so, the man threw a bottle of vodka at the officer, hitting him in the knee, Jovel said.

The officer was not seriously injured and the man was arrested for assault, he said.

Nineteen people were arrested for misdemeanors, and one for a felony, said Officer Bruce Borihanh of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations office.

— City News Service