By Lia Bichel
Police split up a brawl involving about 20 people at La Rock nightclub on the weekend. 46320
IT TOOK about 30 police, including a canine unit and critical incident response unit to break up a a brawl outside a Springvale nightclub on the weekend.
Police were called to La Rock nightclub on Monday at about 12.30am when about 40 youths attempted to gatecrash a private birthday party in the nightclub.
Acting Inspector Glenn Weir said initially six police arrived on the scene and there were about 20 people brawling outside.
He said the crowd was drunk and engaging in disruptive behaviour, which included smashing bottles outside.
The crowd quickly turned against police.
“(They) threw punches at police, who responded with capsicum spray and foam, before retreating and calling for back-up,” Insp Weir said.
About 30 police and three police dogs gained control of the brawl and 10 people were arrested, Insp Weir said.
“During the course of the arrests, several suspects were sprayed with OC spray and foam,” he said.
“One suspect suffered a minor bite from a police dog but refused treatment.”
The men arrested are all aged between 18 and 20 and received on the spot fines of $234 each for riotous behaviour.
No police were injured during the incident.
Insp Weir said police did not tolerate anti-social behaviour.
“Assaults on police and behaviour such as was exhibited (Sunday night) will be met with stringent enforcement,” he said.
This is the second incident of this nature at the same location in the past three weeks.
La Rock management could not be contacted but a post on their Myspace blog stated “La Rock Springvale is a safe and secure venue, operating for over 12 months there has never been an incident inside or outside the venue. Only recently in a carpark adjacent because of a couple drunks (who were) refused entry. Police were called and did their job to remove the offenders.
“We have professional top security in place for our patrons’ safety and even escort (them) to their cars if required.”