70 gang members scuffle at Hmong New Year's festival

Yuba County sheriff's deputies called to provide security for the annual Hmong New Year's celebration in Yuba City found themselves outnumbered Sunday by scuffling gang members whose violence eventually involved about 70 people.

The melee involved roughly 50 members or affiliates of the gang Hmong Nation Society, or HNS, and 20 from Menace Boys Crew, or MBC, according to sheriff's spokesman Lt. Damon Gil.

It began with verbal threats just inside the entrance to the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds at about 2:30 p.m. on the second day of the annual two-day cultural celebration.

Yuba City Police Department officers and Sutter County sheriff's deputies were tied up with patrol and security duties at the concurrent Yuba City Sikh Festival, which each year attracts between 60,000 and 100,000 people to northwest Yuba City and Tierra Buena.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Department was providing security at the fairgrounds in the absence of Yuba City and Sutter County law enforcement.

A deputy was struck in the back with a metal chair, said Gil, but no serious injuries were reported, and no other weapons are thought to have been used by the gang members.

"We are looking to identify the parties involved," said Gil, who is hoping witnesses will contact law enforcement to help identify them.

"The (Yuba County) deputies ended up calling for assistance, but by the time they were able to get there, most (of the gang members) had already fled," Gil said.

The eight deputies at the scene used batons and pepper spray "to defend themselves and others in the incident," Gil said.

No arrests were made.

"And anytime there's any type of gang incident, we have to look at the potential for retaliation," he said.

CONTACT Nancy Pasternack at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4781. Find her on Facebook at /ADnpasternack or on Twitter at @ADnpasternack.