Long Beach Concert Clash

One man was Tasered and five others hospitalized with injuries at a Pennywise concert at the Long Beach Grand Prix April 19th when fire marshals turned away hundreds of ticketholders at the gates.

It is unclear whether the people were injured during the concert itself or during a clash with police after the venue reached its 4,500-capacity limit, officials said.

A crowd of as many as 800 people rushed the fences after marshals began turning away ticketholders at the gate, police told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

"There were hundreds of additional folks that came over, under, around, through the fences all over the place," Long Beach Fire Department Captain Mike Duree said.

However, the incident went further than that, Long Beach Police spokeswoman Jackie Bezart told the paper.

"The crowd got somewhat unruly and bottles were thrown at officers," Bezart said. "At that point we deployed additional officers to maintain crowd control."

Police arrested four people on charges including battery and public intoxication, Bezart said, and cited 15 more for public intoxication and failure to disperse.

The Grand Prix weekend in California reportedly draws as many as 180,000 spectators annually. Those who purchase tickets to the race can also attend the concert.

In the past, organizers relied on the fact that not all Grand Prix ticketholders attend the nighttime concert, Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association, explained.

"We try to accommodate as many as we can, but these are the problems you encounter when you put on a popular group," he said.

Michaelian told the paper that Grand Prix organizers are in discussions with officials from the fire department to increase the capacity of the concert in the future.

"It’s a very popular part of our program," he said. "We’re working with police and fire to see how we can have more people attend the event."