The Santa Barbara Police Dept. arrested eight SB Occupy Wall Street protestors for trespassing yesterday evening at the De La Guerra Plaza after warning the rally to vacate the premise.

Police began making arrests around 11:40 p.m. after giving the remaining demonstrators a final opportunity to leave the park or face infraction citations and possible arrests. The Santa Barbara Municipal Code prohibits the public from staying in the city parks from 10 p.m. until sunrise.

According to SBPD Sergeant Riley Harwood, officers detained the remaining rally members without further incident.

“We didn’t have to force anyone to do anything; they only resisted to the extant that they were incompliant with orders to leave,” Harwood said. “People want to get arrested for the sake of making a statement; they had no interest in fighting with police over the issue.”

Demonstrators Mariah Klusmire, Randy Ramirez, Annmarie Telfer, Alex Chabbott, Keith Keiper, Edward Glenwright, Robert Villegas, and Angelina Ward were booked in the Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $2,500 each.

Harwood said police used the SB Fire Department’s “Jaws of Life” to remove one protestor who had chained his leg to a flagpole.