Only one notable incident reported at Kiwanis Citrus Festival

July 25, 2008
Santa Paula Police Department

The 41st Annual Kiwanis Club Citrus Festival drew thousands of people to Harding Park over the weekend for an event that, according to a Santa Paula Police spokesman, was largely peaceable with a few exceptions.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe 41st Annual Kiwanis Club Citrus Festival drew thousands of people to Harding Park over the weekend for an event that, according to a Santa Paula Police spokesman, was largely peaceable with a few exceptions. Lieutenant Carlos Juarez said one incident led to the arrest of two people for battery on a police office and resisting arrest.The incident occurred Saturday, the second night of the festival, at about 9 p.m. Juarez said that SPPD and Santa Barbara Police Department officers responded to an area just inside the Main Stage concert section after SPPD Senior Officer Ryan Smith “saw some people that appeared to be flashing gang signs. When he and other officers approached the subjects to tell them to knock it off,” one male subject stepped up and “started using foul language.”The subject was ordered to leave and instructed that he was interfering with an officer’s investigation, but “He made some movement” and when officers tried to restrain the subject he struck a SBPD officer on the right side of his face. “After that,” said Juarez, “they ended up taking him into custody.”
While taking Leonard Olvera, 34, of Santa Paula, into custody, a woman believed to be Olvera’s girlfriend, 29-year-old Elizabeth Garza, also a resident of Santa Paula, “started punching the officers too,” and she was also taken into custody. Both Olvera and Garza were arrested for suspicion of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest, and were quickly removed from the scene. It is believed that alcohol consumption by Olvera and Garza was a factor in the incident, Juarez noted.The SPPD was a strong presence at the festival, which Juarez said overall was “very quiet... early on, we got some comments such as ‘Why are there so many cops here?’ but later people said ‘I really feel safe here.’ As the crowd grew, the focus turned to the police presence as it got even bigger.”Citrus Festival Co-Chair Bill Grant agreed: “That Saturday night incident was the only one I heard about” that had overtones of violence. Overall, he added, the SPPD worked quickly and effectively to quell any potential problems at the festival. “Our security was absolutely fantastic, the SPPD did a fantastic job.”Although attendance figures are being finalized, the 2008 Citrus Festival drew up to 20,000 paid admissions - small children were free - and the last day proved, said Grant, to be “our biggest Sunday ever.”



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