Police Stop Cal State Festival After Man Is Slashed in Face

Campus police at Cal State Fullerton broke up a popular festival sponsored by the Pilipino American Student Assn. on Saturday after a man was slashed in the face, police said.

The injured man, who was not identified, was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange. Campus police were interviewing him Saturday night. His assailant had not been identified or arrested. Only two people were involved in the fracas, Lt. Tom Knopp said.

“We’re not too sure what it was all about. We’re trying to find that out,” he said, adding there was no evidence the struggle was politically motivated.

Ten Fullerton police units were called to the university shortly before 4 p.m. to help campus police officers disband a crowd of about 3,000.

Groups from UCLA, UC Irvine, Chapman University and other colleges had traveled to Fullerton for the annual event, which consists of barbecues, booths with ethnic food and athletic contests such as rope pulls.

Knopp said the daylong festival on the athletic fields was scheduled to end around 5 p.m.

“We hated to disperse the crowd, but we had no choice,” Knopp said. “This is really a shame. This was the sixth annual event, and this is the first time we ever had anything like this happen.”

He said the fight should not prevent future festivals.