Oakland --
The Raider celebration turned ugly in some parts of Oakland Sunday
night as revelers took to the streets along a main thoroughfare and broke
windows, set fires and threw rocks at police, authorities said.
In one case, firefighters were called out to battle a blaze inside an auto
repair shop on 39th Avenue, where dozens of people had gathered. In another
case, firefighters had to combat a vehicle fire after an apparent crash on I-
580.
Throughout the city, joyriding fans conducted sideshows at many
intersections and danced and shouted in the streets, prompting police to close
off streets, including those around Jack London Square, where hundreds of fans
had partied.
The worst of the problems occurred in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland
along International Blvd., where police in riot gear moved in around 9 p.m. to
break up boisterous crowds.
Bottles and rocks were thrown, windows were broken, illegal fireworks were
set off and cars were vandalized, including some police cars, authorities said.
In one 10-block section of International Blvd., a police helicopter hovered
overhead and dozens of police officers, followed by roughly 20 police cars,
marched down the street forcing people to leave the streets.
Liz Estrella, who was visiting family on the street was angered by the
large turnout of police officers.
"You never see this much police presence when there is a murder in this
area," Estrella said. "If the Raiders win the Super Bowl, it's going to be
twice as bad as this."
The thoroughfare was littered with glass. Several wooden bullets -- roughly
the size of a roll of film -- were lying in the intersection of 39th Avenue
and International Boulevard. Witnesses said police fired the bullets while
attempting to disperse the crowd.