VIDEO: West Hollywood brawl blamed on too much alcohol

There’s an alley behind some of the biggest bars in West Hollywood and, on Cinco de Mayo, it was the scene of one of the biggest brawls here in recent memory.

A man is flipped by a woman. Another man grabs her and throws her to the ground below.

A drunken brawl? That’s how people who saw it described what happened.

Hank Scott, who publishes Wehoville, says the number of fights in this entertainment district seem to be increasing. Says Scott, “I think one of the big issues in this city is we have to be more careful about serving. There’s actually a campaign to teach bartenders not to over-serve. I don’t think that’s going so well.”

The Sheriffs Department and the Alcohol Beverage Control monitors these things. Authorities say bartenders can be cited - bars can lose their licenses. Back to that fight, Lt. Edward Ramirez with the Sheriffs WEHO Station says he saw the video.

He says the deputies who went to the scene couldn’t get information out of the three women involved. Ramirez says, “They were too drunk… (deputies) called the fire department. Paramedics came in and the women were treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital for extreme alcohol intoxication.”

Alexandra Tarasova, who works in the shop next to the alley says she saw the fight. “They seemed pretty drunk,” she says, “I was just thinking this is what happens when people drink too much and they can’t control themselves.”

Authorities say of course it’s legal to drink alcohol, but it’s important to be responsible.