1 stabbed, 6 injured in melee at Buena Park hotel

BUENA PARK, Calif. (FOX 11 / AP) - Police were trying on Thursday to sort out the circumstances surrounding a melee at a Buena Park hotel that left six people injured, including a stabbing victim who was hospitalized in serious condition.

The fight inside the lobby of the Commonwealth Airport Inn at 8180 Commonwealth Ave. erupted about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Five of the six people with injuries were transported to hospitals, according to Buena Park police Cpl. Bret Carter.

It's unclear what sparked the conflict as there were multiple witnesses to be interviewed, and some were providing conflicting stories, Carter said.

A news videographer at the scene claimed a woman, who was not a guest at the hotel but was attempting to recharge her phone in the lobby, was at the root of the melee.

She was confronted by the hotel manager, who ordered her to leave, according to the videographer. When the manager tried to forcibly remove her, a fight broke out between her and her two companions on one side, and the manager and members of his family on the other, according to the videographer.

A man in his 20s was stabbed during the fight and hospitalized in serious condition at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. Another man in his 20s suffered a head injury and was being treated at the same hospital for moderate injuries, he said.

A woman in her 20s was taken to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton for treatment of minor injuries she suffered when she was punched in the face, and a third man was taken to St. Jude's for treatment of knee injuries, Concialdi said.

Two females -- a juvenile and another woman in her 20s -- were treated at West Anaheim Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries they suffered in the fight, Another underage girl suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, Concialdi said.