INQUIRER Sports

HOLLYWOOD?One by one, squad cars of the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at the Vine Street compound of the famed Wild Card gym.

There was a huge but generally passive crowd that police officers needed to control Saturday afternoon because business tenants inside the same compound were getting bounced off their routine and, well, Manny Pacquiao needed a way out.

?We?re just here to assist with the crowd,? an officer said.

Police said one of the business establishments had called for help to deal with the crowd, which is a common sight at the base of the metal stairs leading to the gym in this glitzy California district.

At least three squad cars?each carrying two officers?arrived at the scene.

Pacquiao?s security actually tried to first escape the crowd by using journalists as decoy. The reporters exited via Wild Card?s main entrance and told people that Pacquiao was on his way out.

The plan was to draw the crowd into the main entrance while Pacquiao made an exit at the back. But the ploy failed as the crowd patiently covered both exits.

?We had waited hours for him to come,? a bespectacled man said.

One of those who loitered around introduced himself as a member of the press and as police dispersed the crowd, he tried to sneak past Pacquiao?s personal security officer, Rob Peters, who caught up with him and asked him to leave.

Police eventually yellow-taped the entire compound, sealing off the crowd.

As it turned out, the police also helped clear the area for Pacquiao to lead a convoy out of Vine Street to fulfill yet another public appearance.

As Pacquiao finally managed to reach a waiting SUV, the reigning pound-for-pound champion waved to the crowd outside the cordoned-off area, and they responded with loud cheers and applauses and several requests for photographs.