USC-UCLA passions lead to brawl

PASADENA, Calif. – Dozens of fans brawled in a Rose Bowl parking lot before the Southern California-UCLA football game Saturday, leaving two men stabbed, two police officers with minor injuries and three men arrested, authorities said.

An estimated 50 to 75 fans of both schools fought at about 4:20 p.m. in a grassy part of Brookside Golf Course that the stadium uses for event parking, Pasadena police Cmdr. Darryl Qualls said.

One person was stabbed in the cheek and the other was stabbed in the back during the melee some three hours before the crosstown-rivalry game between the Bruins and Trojans was set to start, Qualls said. Both were taken by ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital. They were in stable condition.

One officer was treated for a sprained hand, the other for a sprained ankle, and both were released, Qualls said.

Two men who police believe stabbed the victims were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and were being held in Pasadena City Jail on $1 million bail, Qualls said. A third man was arrested for investigation of assault on a police officer, Qualls said.

The names of the victims and suspects were not immediately released.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the brawl, but police said the school rivalry and tailgate party drinking were major factors.