Santa Barbara police investigating a fight downtown early Sunday discovered several altercations going on and then had to disperse as many as 100 bystanders after officers made three arrests.

Police Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte, a department spokesman, said officers were investigating a fight that had broken out outside of Statemynt, 519 State St., about 1:30 a.m. Sunday when several people alerted the officers of a different fight down the street.

According to the police report, officers observed a crowd of 20 to 30 people gathered on the sidewalk, some of whom were fighting. After the officers approached and ordered the fighting to stop and for the crowd to disperse, the fight continued and officers deployed tasers to take the subjects into custody. Because the crowd continued to grow, reaching about 100 people, additional police units were called to the scene to help disperse it.

Arrested and booked at Santa Barbara County Jail for an outstanding felony warrant was Michael Merriweather Henderson, 26, of Santa Barbara. Phillip Trenton Cota, 24, also of Santa Barbara, was arrested and booked for resisting and delaying an officer. Linwood Antonio Ellis, 34, of Oxnard, was also arrested but was cited and released for resisting and delaying an officer.

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.