Police in San Francisco barricaded the Dolores Street hill next to Dolores Park to prevent an expected "Hill Bomb" skateboarding event after police and skateboarders clashed last year, leading to arrests. But that didn't stop skaters from gathering Saturday to board downhill, they just moved to a nearby street.
The Dolores Street "Hill Bomb", a popular unpermitted annual skateboarding gathering, typically takes place near Dolores Park and features crowds cheering on dozens of skateboarders racing down the middle of the street.
Police officers began setting up barricades around the street by 3:00 p.m. Satruday, blocking off the road and sidewalk from 21st Street down to 18th Street.
"When they’re unorganized, unpermitted, and unsanctioned and there are no rules at all... we cannot allow that," said SFPD Chief Bill Scott told the press Friday.
A social media post from the skater who advertised the event online issued an update saying the hill bomb was "Canceled!!!” and advised potential attendees to "Stay away!!!"
SFPD declined to comment on how many offers are staffed in the area and what safety measures it plans on taking.
"We ask the public to avoid the area and expect delays when traveling in the surrounding area," said an SFPD spokesperson.
The department also issued a warning to potential attendees on Friday.
"It's not against people going out and skating around the city, in fact, we want people to have fun with their skateboards, but what we don’t want and can't have is a community that has been taken over, criminal activity vandalism, and assaults," Scott said.
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Last year, the department made dozens of arrests and charged more than 100 people with inciting a riot at an unpermitted skateboarding event over the weekend. Muni trains were vandalized during the clash.
At the time, the transit agency said damages to the train cost roughly $70,000 to fix.
There is also ongoing litigation over how police responded to last year's event.
San Francisco resident Amire Lofton, who said he has been going to the Hill Bomb several years in a row, said of the event last year, "it was a little rowdy back then."
"There were some skaters graffitiing, it wasn't part of the skate culture at all," he said.
Lofton, who said he skates daily in San Francisco, said that the downhill skate event down Dolores Street is exhilarating and an important event for the skateboarding community.
Many skateboarders showed up at Dolores Park on Saturday hoping to skate, only to face disappointment and rows of barricades.
"I came for the speed, man." explained Omar Arroyo. "I was trying to hit at least 40 miles per hour."
Many skaters told NBC Bay Area they felt skateboarders were being unfairly targeted.
"I don't get why they're making it so big of deal, when they are a bunch of other things they could be dealing with right now," said skater Orion Collinson of Santa Cruz.
The skate boarders found their own solution on Saturday, after skating for a while through the park, they moved to the hill on Church Street on the opposite side of the park.
Hundreds of people lined up to watch and cheer on the skaters as they descended down Church Street.
San Francisco Police officers watched from close by but didn't stop the skaters.
Skater after skater told NBC Bay Area they would rather see the city use it's resources to support the event instead.
"Make it more organized so we can actually have fun and make it safe for the skaters," Lofton said.
The San Francisco Fire Department told NBC Bay Area that one man suffered a possible head injury while skateboarding down Church Street on Saturday and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
San Francisco Police said the crowd at Church Street began with around 200 people and grew to more than 500 people. SFPD also said that just before 9:30 p.m., one person threw a firework in the area and the crowd began slowly dispersing. Shortly after, SFPD said it discovered that one of its wagons had been vandalized. The department said that no arrests were made.
