One police officer was injured Tuesday evening at the scene of a skateboarders' street rally in San Francisco's Dolores Park that turned into a standoff lasting more than one hour, according to police.
San Francisco police were warning the public to avoid the area of Dolores and 19th streets after multiple skateboarders traveling at high speeds down Dolores refused to comply with officers' attempts to shut down the rally, police said.
The rally started at 7:11 p.m., police said. The skateboarders were being towed up the hill by vehicles and then riding down the hill on the boards, some performing tricks on the way down.
The police response initially was for a call reporting someone needing medical attention. But the crowd did not allow the officers to tend to a person in the street with a head injury, police said.
A large fight broke out at some point, with multiple officers involved, so SFPD tried to clear the park, police said. For more than an hour, skaters shouted and threw objects such as bottles.
Police described the scene as a hostile environment, but one skateboarder who didn't want to be identified claims officers overreacted.
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A police spokeswoman said two patrol cars were vandalized and one officer was injured and transported to a hospital. The extent of the officer's injury was not known.
Ambulances were called for skateboarders who lost control, police said. Multiple skateboarders were taken to hospitals with head injuries, police said.
One video posted to social media appears to show an officer on foot bumping into one traveling skateboarder, causing the skateboarder to crash into a parked patrol car. That skateboarder also was treated for injuries, police said.
It appears as though a similar skateboarding event also took place this time last year in San Francisco. It's not clear if Tuesday's event was a repeat performance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
