Man Stabbed, 12 Arrested In Castro St. Halloween Violence

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Man Stabbed, 12 Arrested In Castro St. Halloween Violence

by Mary Ellen Peterson 365Gay.com San Francisco Bureau

Posted: November 1, 2005 5:00 pm ET

(San Francisco, California) The annual Halloween festivities in San Francisco's gay Castro neighborhood erupted into violence on Monday night with one man stabbed and a dozen people arrested.

Halloween brings the largest crowds into the Castro apart from the annual gay pride parade but in recent years the revelry has been marked by trouble.

Despite an unprecedented police presence and a ban on alcohol this year the crowd turned rowdy early Tuesday morning as the street party along Castro Street began to wind down.

Police said that stabbing victim's injuries were not life threatening. Several of those arrested were throwing liquor bottles from apartments above businesses.

Still, police say the event was less violent than three years ago when five people were stabbed and a number of others were assaulted. A chain saw also was confiscated during that event.

Police said that close to 400,000 people were in the Castro for the party this year and most were oblivious to the sporadic violence.

Once a spontaneous and unsanctioned party, the event is now run by the city.

People had to pass through 18 entrance gates where police randomly searched people for weapons, drugs and alcohol.

Vincent Roy, 34, of San Francisco, dressed up for the first time at the city's gay and lesbian community's massive Halloween street party. He wore a cardboard iPod costume that played dance tunes when people pushed a play button.

"I like dressing up because you can be something you're not," Roy said. "No one knows who I am. I am anonymous," he added.

Mike Bories, 43, has been attending the parade for 15 years. "I just got sucked into the crowd. I love it," said Bories. "I like the sense of community. Everybody from the Bay Area comes out."

©365Gay.com 2005

with files from The Associated Press

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