As San Francisco Giants fans woke up bleary-eyed, exhausted and happy today after the team’s World Series win on Monday night, police were still assessing the toll of the overnight victory celebration.
After Giants’ closer Brian Wilson struck out the Texas Rangers’ Nelson Cruz to end Game 5 and the series, thousands of people filled the streets all over San Francisco.
Champagne was sprayed into the air, fireworks were shot from intersections, traffic lights were climbed and fires were set in trash cans, all to the background of “U-ribe” chants and deafening “Woooooo!” screams.
At least six people were arrested, and a police officer suffered a minor cut and needed stitches, San Francisco police spokeswoman Lt. Lyn Tomioka said.
One patrol car was damaged and at least three private vehicles had their windows smashed, Tomioka said. In one neighborhood, a sofa was thrown out of a window and lit on fire.
San Francisco police called in mutual aid from Berkeley, Oakland and San Mateo to help with the raucous crowds.
“Everyone was very happy last night, and even happy people sometimes need a police presence,” Tomioka said.
One of the more disturbing incidents occurred in the Mission District, where a crowd descended on a passing car, smashing in the windows and apparently assaulting the occupants.
A video of the incident posted on YouTube shows a fire burning in the middle of the street and the car passing through the crowd slowly. A group of young men starts attacking and jumping on the car.
Tomioka said police are looking into the attack and the possibility that it may have been gang-related.
Earlier in the night, at about 9:20 p.m., a crowd lit a mattress on fire at 22nd and Valencia streets. When firefighters arrived, dozens of revelers climbed atop the fire engine, holding signs, chanting and dancing.
San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said members of the crowd “got on the engine and they were a little riled up.”
“We were advised, basically, that there was a little riot going on down there,” Talmadge said.
Cars were seen speeding through nearby streets and revving their engines. One man climbed a traffic signal pole and hung a Giants flag from San Francisco Municipal Railway wires.
This morning, merchants in the Mission were taking stock of the damage.
“We have a lot of graffiti,” said Tess Villanueva, assistant manager at the Sketchers store at 2600 Mission St.
She said someone had spray-painted “Giants” in multiple colors on the store’s windows.
“It’s really ugly now,” she said.
There was no damage at a nearby Payless Shoe Source, and manager Juan Michel said that when he closed the store at 8 p.m. Monday, the crowd was not causing any problems.
The fans were “just basically celebrating, cheering, screaming,” he said.
One of the hotspots, of course, was near the ballpark. After the game’s final out, the sports bars along King Street emptied and fireworks were shot from the intersection of Third and King streets.
Fans mobbed a nearby Safeway, buying toilet paper and bottles of Champagne. Hours later, the crowd showed no signs of diminishing, and police were keeping an eye on the situation from a distance.
In the Lower Haight, a similar scene was playing out. Muni buses were sprayed with Champagne and crowds shut down Haight Street between Fillmore and Steiner streets.
