Boots and Brews battery reports explained

The third annual Boots & Brews Country Music Festival at Central Park in Saugus Saturday. Emily Alvarenga/The Signal
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Sheriff’s officials shared details Thursday about complaints filed by women earlier in the week alleging they were accosted Saturday during the Boots & Brews Country Music Festival in Central Park.

On Monday, two women went to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and filed reports of battery.

On Thursday, Lt. Ignacio Somoano, who heads the SCV Sheriff’s Station’s Detective Bureau, shared details of incidents that do not include some of the widely reported claims made on social media.

The first of two reports was filed by a Santa Clarita woman described as Caucasian in her 40s.

“The first incident occurred at about 8:30 p.m.,” Somoano said. “This lady reported she was chest-bumped by another woman, who grabbed her hands and was then trying to manhandle her.”

Somoano, referencing the actual report: “She didn’t get any noted injuries.”

The suspect was described as a Hispanic woman in her 20s who was wearing a red blouse.

The second report was filed by a woman in her 50s, also Caucasian.

“This woman says she was in the crowd near the stage. After she left the stage, the victim recalls being suddenly on the ground and getting kicked,” Somoano said.

“She said it was really crowded, and the next thing she recalls is that she’s on the ground getting kicked,” he said. “Security helped her out of the area and that she did have some injuries.

“She sought her own medical treatment,” Somoano said. “She did mention talking to deputies. It’s not clear, at this point, what role they played.”

Somoano said he plans to reach out to event security for insight into both complaints.

“We’ll also reach out to our deputies here to see which deputies were working that night and find out if they heard or saw something,” he said.

Neither battery report included any mention of a racial motive, Somoano said.

The Boots & Brews Country Music Festival got underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday and went until 10 p.m. with live music, dancing and beer. An estimated 5,000 people attended.

Event organizer Vincenzo Giammanco described news of the alleged assaults as “very disappointing.”

“Security is our No. 1 priority,” he said Tuesday. “If something were to happen, we want to handle it swiftly and professionally and with local law enforcement.”

Giammanco said his group “had a ton of security and more than what had been posted at similar events.”

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