The event, organized by city skateboarders and advertised on social media, often occurs in mid-July and has drawn thousands of participants and spectators in previous years. After gathering at the park, many try their luck rolling downhill from 21st Street to 18th Street.

The hill bomb in 2017 involved fights and bottles thrown but no arrests; however, a collision that year between a police officer and a skater led to a proposed $275,000 settlement. As recently as 2020, after a person died at the hill bomb and several participants suffered serious injuries, city public works crews installed “Botts dots” along parts of Dolores, with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency leader Jeffrey Tumlin expressing concern for safety within multiple communities.

The death in 2020 happened when a cyclist who was riding down the hill at high speed collided with a skateboarder. The skateboarder wasn’t seriously hurt but the cyclist died. There was another serious incident in 2019 when the owner of a skateboard company wound up in critical condition with severe brain trauma after wiping out on the hill. She wound up needing two brain surgeries.

And in 2017 the editor of Thrasher magazine also went flying during the same event and wound up in the hospital with a concussion. At the time, he suggested maybe they should consider getting a permit the next year but that never happened. In short, this is a dangerous unpermitted event where even people with lots of experience get hurt and killed.

This year no one was killed but the event got more out of hand than usual and one police officer was injured.

At approximately 7:10 p.m. as officers assisted the residents at Cumberland and Dolores streets a sergeant was approached by a male who spat in his face. The sergeant moved to detain the male suspect and while doing so was approached by a female who tried to interfere with the sergeant’s attempt to detain the male suspect. The sergeant was assaulted during the incident and suffered lacerations to his face, for which he was transported to the hospital. Officers detained the suspects, identified as a 16-year-old male and a 15-year-old female. The female was arrested for delaying/resisting arrest (148(a)(1) PC). The male was arrested for aggravated assault (245(a)1 PC), violence against an officer (69 PC), assault and battery (243(b) PC), delaying/resisting arrest (148(a)(1) PC), conspiracy (182 PC), and crimes involving a juvenile (602 W&I). The male suspect was transported to the hospital for a non-life-threatening injury and was later booked into the Juvenile Justice Center. During this arrest, the crowd began to throw ignited fireworks, smoke bombs, glass bottles, and metal cans at officers which struck them.

Police attempted to clear the park as the crowd kept lighting fireworks and the fire department had to be called. The park was closed and the police ordered everyone out. The “youths” then decided to stop and vandalize several MUNI trains.

As crowds moved out of the park at approximately 7:35 p.m. there were reports of gunshots at 18th and Church streets near an occupied MUNI light rail vehicle (LRV), which was unable to move due to the crowd blocking the street. Officers arrived on scene and observed the LRV being vandalized and several people climbed on top of the LRV putting themselves at risk of falling and/or touching the high-voltage electrical equipment. Officers attempted to move the crowds which fled in various directions. A second occupied MUNI vehicle was vandalized at 17th and Church Streets. Officers continued to give dispersal orders throughout the area, but the crowds remained moving around Dolores Park with some people igniting fireworks and vandalizing property.

At approximately 8:12 p.m. a group of approximately 200 people with skateboards gathered at 18^th and Dolores streets and began removing barricades as the officers’ dispersal orders continued but the crowd did not comply. A group of people approached a third occupied MUNI LRV at this location causing it to stop and began vandalizing it. At approximately 8:35 p.m. officers followed this group to 17^th Street and detained the crowd between Dolores and Guerrero Streets where it was decided that a mass arrest of the crowd was to be conducted to stop the ongoing unlawful assembly and destruction of property.

To summarize, this group were being destructive and refused to clear the area so police arrested them.

Ask why they were arrested? pic.twitter.com/CFm7IRGJ0m

— SF Small Business Coalition (@SFSBCoalition) July 9, 2023