Jun 15, 2009 9:15 am US/Pacific
Raucous Lakers Fans Injure 8 Cops; 18 Arrested
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Los Angeles Lakers fans smash the windows of a cab after they started throwing bottles and damaging passing cars outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after their team defeated the Orlando Magic in the NBA final on June 14, 2009.
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Los Angeles police say eight officers have suffered minor injuries during downtown disturbances that erupted amid street celebrations of the Lakers' NBA championship victory over the Orlando Magic.
Officer Gregory Baek says the officers were taken to hospitals for treatment of the injuries sustained during melees Sunday night in the Staples Center area. Police say 18 people were arrested.
What began as a lively but peaceful celebration took on a different tone for those remaining a few hours after the game. Some in the crowd vandalized a shoe store, buses and police cars, set small fires and threw rocks and bottles at police.
Reinforcement officers were called in from throughout the city to help disperse the crowd, officer Karen Rayner said.
Television footage showed people jumping on police cars, rocking vehicles attempting to pass through the crowd, setting small trees on fire and throwing bricks at empty buses. A gas station and a shoe store were looted, police said.
Chief William Bratton told KNX radio Monday that police planned to watch the video in an attempt to identify vandals and make further arrests.
Bratton commended his officers for showing restraint despite "a lot of provocation from a number of knuckleheads," he told KTTV-TV.
"It's not easy to stand there when cowards in the middle of the crowd are throwing rocks and bottles at them," Bratton said.
The 18 arrests were for disturbing the peace, arson, outstanding warrants and other infractions, Rayner said.
Across the country in Florida, the Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 of the NBA finals Sunday night to win their 15th championship and first in seven years.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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