Rowdy crowds took to the streets in Los Angeles after the Dodgers won the World Series, setting a bus on fire, breaking into stores and setting off firecrackers. A dozen arrests were reported by police early on Thursday, but officials emphasized that most fans had celebrated peacefully.
Video showed people throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area after the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in game five in New York. Other clips showed revelers standing atop a bus waving a Dodgers banner and people running from a boarded-up Nike store with armfuls of sneakers before throwing the merchandise into cars parked outside. No injuries were reported.
Despite some unrest, “the overwhelming majority of celebrations last night were joyful and peaceful”, Mayor Karen Bass said at a Thursday news conference discussing the logistics of Friday’s planned victory parade.
“We will work to keep Angelenos safe as always,” Bass said, emphasizing that “violence of any kind will not be tolerated”.
The mayor, who wore a Dodgers jersey with her name on the back, noted that the parade would be held on what would have been Fernando Valenzuela’s 64th birthday. The beloved Dodgers pitcher died last week.
Bass said she will be sending a Dodgers jersey to New York Mayor Eric Adams to wear at his City Hall “because he has lost the bet”.
Officials said the Los Angeles police department would be on high alert throughout the week to protect communities and businesses in the city, which has been the site of previous unrest after championship wins by both the Lakers and the Dodgers.
There were some “unruly, and at times violent and hostile celebrations”, with several acts of vandalism, including the burning of a metropolitan transit authority bus, according to police. Arrests were made on charges such as failure to disperse, receiving stolen property or commercial burglary.
“Metro is disappointed and angered by the senseless act of vandalism on one of our buses following the Dodgers World Series win earlier this evening,” the transit authority said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“Less-lethal munitions were deployed for crowd control on several hostile and violent crowds,” an LAPD spokesperson said. “Detectives will be conducting investigations in the coming days to attempt to identify those responsible for the above mentioned crimes.”
LAPD telling DTLA World Series revelers to leave the area. Still some projectiles being thrown towards them even as I am writing this. LAPD shooting less lethals towards the crowd. pic.twitter.com/S6IRihOdEf
— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) October 31, 2024
The Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said his deputies would be on full alert for various events, including the celebrations of the Dodgers’ win, Halloween festivities and the forthcoming elections.
“The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community because most of them were out celebrating because they love their Dodgers,” Luna said.
The Dodgers plan to commemorate their World Series championship on Friday with a downtown parade followed by a celebration at Dodger Stadium. The team said on Wednesday that because of logistics, traffic and timing, fans would not be able to attend both events.
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