Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier: A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1986
Chapter 6: City Owned Pier (1974-1990)
" . . .
"The Carousel Park opened on June 6, 1986. Ray Camack Shows set up a small children's amusement zone adjacent to it behind the carousel. It featured an Eli 12 Ferris Wheel, a super slide and three platform kiddie rides. . . . "
". . . The crowd of 500,000 that was drawn to the beach on Friday evening July 4, 1986 created an unsafe atmosphere that two hundred police and civilian badged employees couldn't control. Some fighting began as early as 3 p.m. in the beach parking lots, then escalated after the pier fireworks ended at 9:30 p.m. Sgt. Barry Barcroft, the event watch commander, reported that most of the assaults seemed to be a result of gangs of up to ten, jumping, beating, and stabbing others. There were reports of several shootings, seven knifings, and a total of nearly two hundred fights. One victim was struck and killed by two motorcycles in a hit and run accident. The police, dealing with a whole army of attempted murders and assaults with deadly weapons, made fifty-nine arrests. . . "