Beach towel prompts alcohol-fueled brawl at California water park, officials and witnesses say

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTVU) - Raging Waters in Sacramento was shut down early Sunday afternoon after a large fight that started over a beach towel nearly killed a man, officials said.

The 40-person brawl – fueled by alcohol - began around 3:30 p.m. by the Lazy River picnic area after a disagreement between two women over who took whose beach towel, Cal Expo Police Chief Everest Robillard told Sacramento station, KCRA. 

Christopher Neves, a 35-year-old Modesto resident, tried to break up the fight but was attacked by three other people who jumped in after him, Robillard said. 

No arrests were made, but all the people involved in the fight were identified, photographed and released, KCRA reported. If Cal Expo police feel they have enough evidence to press criminal charges against the combatants, Robillard said the district attorney will have to support the prosecution for arrests to be made.

Witness Gonzalo Bustante was with his family when he saw two large groups with more than a dozen people on each side getting into a huge brawl.

"Next thing I see a chair getting broken over some guy's head," he told Fox 40. 

Mother Skyler Lemmons said she was very upset.

"I can't even take my kids to a water park without something crazy happening," Lemmons told Fox 40. "It doesn't make me feel safe to go anywhere."

People escorted out of the park were all given passes to return another day.

This story was written in Oakland, Calif.