ESTACADA -- A larger-than-expected Fourth of July crowd at Carver Park along the Clackamas River resulted in brawls and arrests and prompted authorities to shut down the park early, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

KGW photo

Part of the crowd at Carver Park.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ed Mura said Carver Park had “near riot conditions” in the early evening of July 4th. Sgt. Mura estimates between 2,500 and 5,000 people jammed into the tiny park after floating the Clackmas river between 4 and 8 p.m.

Many were drunk and rowdy, authorities said. Deputies said disturbances included several assaults and fistfights.

Two people were arrested and one person was hospitalized with facial cuts.

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Mura said most of the people in the park had floated down from Barton Park. He said workers at Barton lost count after 1,000 cars crammed into their parking lot. The float from Barton down to Carver takes three hours, according to Mura.

Many of the rafters brought alcohol, making them drunk, tired and angry when they reached Carver, Mura said.

“Many were equipped with massive amounts of alcohol,” said Mura. “I saw two gentlemen each carrying a case of beer to their raft."

The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department promised to crack down on the problems with more enforcement of drinking laws and more exclusion orders to those who cause problems and trespass on private property.