MANSFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - Officers had to call in back up from four different communities when a concert erupted in violence in Mansfield.
The owners of the venue are now accusing police of taking things too far.
Mansfield police said the annual Summer Jam event was plagued by violence, with 19 arrests ranging from OUI to larceny to assault and battery.
Lieutenant Frank Archer said authorities made contact with almost 100 attendees.
“This is my 22nd year working up here,” he said. “And this was one of the worst shows.”
Police said they were overwhelmed by assaults on the venue’s lawn.
Typically there are about 10 officers in the area and a total of 60 at the venue.
A local selectman said the police response was intimidating to concert-goers, but Archer said the response was proportionate to the problems they saw at the time.
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