Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Fistfight between county fair workers turns out to be an exception

"It's all good. There's no fighting; we're at the fair!"

"Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."
"Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."

Towards the end of June, a fistfight broke out between carnival workers at the San Diego County Fair, quickly captured on video by TikTok user @adan651. The incident sparked online discussions about the environment and safety of the event.

The video begins with a carnival booth worker in a black outfit slapping a taller man wearing a blue San Diego County Fair "Retro" t-shirt. "Ohhhh shit," exclaims @adan651 while filming and approaching the booth. The man in the blue t-shirt enters the booth and punches the worker. Amid signage reading "bam!, super, bang, snap, OMG!" and surrounded by broken plates and stuffed toys, the fight is interrupted by a mediator who says, "It's all good. There's no fighting; we're at the fair!"

The 21-second clip, initially posted on TikTok and Instagram, was repeatedly removed but found a permanent home on Reddit, where it attracted hundreds of comments. One comment noted in part, "Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."

A Del Mar local on NextDoor warned, "Keep in mind the fair is in town... and all of the out-of-towners who work it. We often hear crime incidents go up during this time. Be mindful of your valuables." Neighbors mentioned confrontations on the outskirts of the fairgrounds due to frustrated motorists struggling to find parking, leading to illegal parking in nearby neighborhoods and businesses.

Before the fight, I spoke with the Speedway Gas Station employees and Denny's manager across the street from the fairgrounds. They reported that criminal activity in the area remains the same whether the fair is in town or not.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to CrimeMapping.com, there were only 11 reported crimes around the fairgrounds from June 12 to July 7, the duration of the annual fair. Eight of these reported crimes occurred just south of the fairgrounds by the Jimmy Durante Boulevard bridge crossing the San Dieguito River; six of these incidents involved alcohol and drug violations, topped with disorderly conduct. The other two were assaults, possibly related to the carnival workers mentioned earlier.

Then, there were the other three CrimeMapping reports in the vicinity. On July 1, the San Diego Police Department caught a male committing theft/larceny by the Hilton Del Mar, across the street from the fair. A vandalism report was made a few blocks north of the fairgrounds on Del Mar Downs Road the day before. The last crime reported was another drug/alcohol violation by the northwest corner of the fairgrounds.

Coastnews.com reported some crimes seemingly not reported on Crimemapping.com, including the June 26 arrest of a 37-year-old person at the fairgrounds for a felony warrant and on June 30, when sheriff's deputies responded to a report of simple battery at the fairgrounds.

There were a handful of misdemeanor disorderly conduct incidents that involved intoxication and drugs, which likely cross-matched a couple of Sheriff reports made on the crime mapping page.

Despite the isolated criminal activities at the fairgrounds and its surroundings, with a reported 900,000 attendees, the overall crime rate during the fair appears much lower than the Redditors and NextDoor users suggested.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
Next Article

Chunky yellowtail from Alijos Rocks

Imperial Beach Pier thresher shark
"Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."
"Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."

Towards the end of June, a fistfight broke out between carnival workers at the San Diego County Fair, quickly captured on video by TikTok user @adan651. The incident sparked online discussions about the environment and safety of the event.

The video begins with a carnival booth worker in a black outfit slapping a taller man wearing a blue San Diego County Fair "Retro" t-shirt. "Ohhhh shit," exclaims @adan651 while filming and approaching the booth. The man in the blue t-shirt enters the booth and punches the worker. Amid signage reading "bam!, super, bang, snap, OMG!" and surrounded by broken plates and stuffed toys, the fight is interrupted by a mediator who says, "It's all good. There's no fighting; we're at the fair!"

The 21-second clip, initially posted on TikTok and Instagram, was repeatedly removed but found a permanent home on Reddit, where it attracted hundreds of comments. One comment noted in part, "Classic rivalry between rides guys and games guys."

A Del Mar local on NextDoor warned, "Keep in mind the fair is in town... and all of the out-of-towners who work it. We often hear crime incidents go up during this time. Be mindful of your valuables." Neighbors mentioned confrontations on the outskirts of the fairgrounds due to frustrated motorists struggling to find parking, leading to illegal parking in nearby neighborhoods and businesses.

Before the fight, I spoke with the Speedway Gas Station employees and Denny's manager across the street from the fairgrounds. They reported that criminal activity in the area remains the same whether the fair is in town or not.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to CrimeMapping.com, there were only 11 reported crimes around the fairgrounds from June 12 to July 7, the duration of the annual fair. Eight of these reported crimes occurred just south of the fairgrounds by the Jimmy Durante Boulevard bridge crossing the San Dieguito River; six of these incidents involved alcohol and drug violations, topped with disorderly conduct. The other two were assaults, possibly related to the carnival workers mentioned earlier.

Then, there were the other three CrimeMapping reports in the vicinity. On July 1, the San Diego Police Department caught a male committing theft/larceny by the Hilton Del Mar, across the street from the fair. A vandalism report was made a few blocks north of the fairgrounds on Del Mar Downs Road the day before. The last crime reported was another drug/alcohol violation by the northwest corner of the fairgrounds.

Coastnews.com reported some crimes seemingly not reported on Crimemapping.com, including the June 26 arrest of a 37-year-old person at the fairgrounds for a felony warrant and on June 30, when sheriff's deputies responded to a report of simple battery at the fairgrounds.

There were a handful of misdemeanor disorderly conduct incidents that involved intoxication and drugs, which likely cross-matched a couple of Sheriff reports made on the crime mapping page.

Despite the isolated criminal activities at the fairgrounds and its surroundings, with a reported 900,000 attendees, the overall crime rate during the fair appears much lower than the Redditors and NextDoor users suggested.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader