By Reid Forgrave
The Cincinnati Enquirer

AVONDALE - Police closed 10 blocks of Reading Road for about an hour Monday night after a Memorial Day party at Hirsch Community Center ended and raucous crowds spilled onto the streets.

Cincinnati police officers use a Walgreens parking lot as a staging area near the intersection of Reading Rd. and Forest Avenue in Avondale late Monday. Reading Rd. was shut down for a short time. (Gary Landers photo)

There were no serious injuries and the crowd dispersed in just over an hour.

The disturbance started after the annual party ended at 9:30 p.m.and about 500 party-goers and passersby crowded onto several blocks of Reading Road. Several fights ensued, police said.

Cincinnati police officers shut down the road, and several rocks were thrown at police cars.

Fifty officers donned riot gear, but none were hurt. There were no serious injuries among passersby.

"You just can't see what's coming at you, so that's always scary when you have that crowd mentality," Cincinnati police Capt. Kathleen Howard said.

Police deployed a canister of mace to disperse part of the crowd, Howard said, and at least one person was arrested.