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San Jose SWAT Team Called To Break Up Rowdy Vacant House Party

SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- A rowdy, unauthorized party in an empty San Jose home being renovated got violent and destructive Friday night.

Neighbors say a riotous, bottle-throwing crowd, estimated at between 20 to 30, spilled onto the street outside the home on Mt. Shasta Drive and then scattered quickly when police arrived, hopping fences and running through backyards.

"A whole bunch of cops just started coming here. I heard bottles crack and then I heard a big thump and they hit the back window of my car and it just broke," Alexis Avelar, who lives in the neighborhood, told KPIX.

Avelar replaced his broken windshield Saturday morning but the owners of the home are just beginning to assess the damage.

"It's scary. You don't know what's going to happen. You don't know what kind of people are out there," said neighbor Erwin Villena.

Villena lives next to the vacant house and had a front-row seat as police called in the SWAT team to disperse the increasingly-hostile crowd.

A police spokesperson said many of the party-goers managed to escape through the backyard. Neighbors told KPIX they were deeply troubled by the event.

"I just hope [police] have the people in custody who are responsible for breaking into all these houses because I heard that this house was nearly ready to rent and now it's going to be a setback," Villena said.

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