The El Cajon Boulevard riot was the official name of what the San Diego Union called the Drag Strip Riot. Some people consider the El Cajon Boulevard Riot one of the first major youth riots of the 1960s. About The riot began during the evening of August 20, 1960 as an organized protest over the closing of Hourglass Field, an unused United States Navy airfield, to drag racing. The drag racing had been organized by the San Diego Timing Association, a local group of hot rod clubs, but was unauthorized. The Navy and the police looked the other way because Hourglass Field was the only off-street venue available for drag racing at the time. On August 8, 1960, three (possibly four) bystanders were injured during a drag race. The Navy had been under some pressure to crack down on the drag racing and shut down the airfield to drag racing after the incident. Car clubs lobbied the city for an official drag racing site but were denied as the San Diego Police Chief A.E. Jensen said "Drag strips actually stimulate highway recklessness among those viewing such contests". The Protest was organized by thousands of fliers that were spread around town at coffee shops, car clubs, movie theaters and other places where people would gather. These fliers stated that there would be a "mass protest meeting" on El Cajon Boulevard on Sunday August 12. The news was also spread by the a DJ named Dick Boynton on the local radio station. Two days later the police arrested a printer by the name of Herbert Sturdyvin, 20, on suspicion of conspiracy of printing the fliers that were used to organize the protest. He was released two days later without charges due to the fact that the police did not have enough evidence. This led to an organized mass protest the night of August 20 and 21 at the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and Cherokee Street in San Diego. The crowd of about 3,000 teenagers and adults blocked three blocks of El Cajon Boulevard (one of San Diego's major east-west thoroughfares) and began holding impromptu drag races with just enough room for cars to race two-abreast down the street. Around 2 A.M. more than 65 police officers began quelling the riot first by ordering them to disperse and then moving in with tear gas and riot sticks. Some protestors tried to fight