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Stockton Cinco de Mayo Celebration Turns Violent

STOCKTON (CBS13) — Two Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Stockton took a violent turn when people began to throw beer bottles and rocks at police.

"I was like kind of scared to even cross the street because I was afraid they might come after me," said Thomas Krueger, who lives nearby.

Chaos on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Stockton took Krueger by surprise on a simple trip to the store.

"There was cops on each additional block all around here and then there was cops going in and out of the streets looking for somebody," he said.

It started around 2:30 Sunday afternoon. Dozens of cars gathered in different parking lots along the street.

"We had two Cinco de Mayo events and historically afterwards people will go down to the Martin Luther King Boulevard area to hang out," said Stockton Police officer Joe Silva.

But Juan De la Cruz was in the area when it happened and said this was a little more than hanging out.

"They are going maybe three, four of them, they go around- and then the smoke, burning things because of the way they drive," de la Cruz said.

When Stockton Police arrived, they found bumper-to-bumper traffic and people in and outside of their cars. Martin Luther King Boulevard was shut down last night from about 8:30 to 10:30 from Hunter Road to Airport Way.

"There were at least 20 cop cars just right in this vicinity right here," said Thomas Krueger. "All parked with their lights on blocking every road around here."

Officer Silva with Stockton PD told CBS13 that people threw beer bottles and rocks at the police cars, leaving at least six of them damaged.

"That's why I scared because they might hit somebody," De La Cruz said.

Two men were arrested during the commotion. Both men face charges of resisting arrest and one man faces the charge of driving under the influence.

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