A major brawl broke out during what was otherwise a fun and peaceful event in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter during a special street event.
Gaslamp Quarter Urban Pickleball, a free bring-your-own-paddle event that takes place on Thursdays thru the end of September on Fifth Ave., between Market and K Street, had people laughing and enjoying the opportunity to play a game on a city street. Then a street fight broke out in front of Rockin’ Baja Lobster that involved slugging, someone pinned to the ground, a lot of shouting and arguing and then a fight between women who were with the men involded in the melee.
PubClub.com had a ringside (literally) seat for all of it and captured photos and videos. the latter of which you can see by going to PubClub’s Instagram account.
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The fight went on and on and the minute you thought it was over it escalated again. This continued for 10+ minutes with no police arriving – despite the fact the Padres game just ended a few blocks away – so PubClub.com sent a photo to Clean & Safe. A few minutes later they showed up and a few minutes after that the San Diego Police arrived in force with several officers and vehicles with flashing lights. One of the fighters, the one who was earlier pinned to the ground, was taken away and presumably arrested. He fought to the end, too, and it took several officers to finally subdue him.
What triggerd it is unknown but it is highly unlikely it was related to the pickleball event. In fact, after rushing to the scene, the people resumed playing as if they were at a country club.
Thank you for the comment and explanation. The PubClub article does not state that this was a pickleball-related incident and we have been telling people just that when questioned about it. Urban Pickleball is a great addition to the Gaslamp Quarter.
This had nothing to do with the great pickleball game or the players. This was a drunk person the one arrested and his drunk wife who drove onto the courts and disrupted our game. The street was shut down to motorized vehicles and this drunk person started to aggressively cause disruption with the women first and threw our net to the side of the court. He then proceeded to harass the next court before innocent bystanders tried to apprehend him. What ever drugs and alcohol he was on it took many guys to hold him till the police arrived to arrest him His wife and impound the illegally parked motorcycle.
Please do not believe for one moment this was caused by any of the pickleball players or the sponsors. This was one bad incident that should have never occurred. Thankfully no major injuries to any of the players.
This was not a FREE event there is a $25 entry fee to play. Please sign up and join the fun for next week.
Thank you to the men in Blue for protecting us and taking care of this incident.