YouTube Star Convention Chaos As Thousands Of Fans Turned Away

GARDEN GROVE (CBSLA) — Thousands of fans showed up to a hotel in Garden Grove but many of them were shut out. That's when things got crazy at TanaCon. Some fans were hurt when others decided to push their way into the convention.

As CBSLA's Stacey Butler reports, fans at TanaCon say an angry mob grabbed tickets and rushed the lobby of the Garden Grove Marriott where Tana Mongeau held her own event competing with VidCon.

Butler reports that 20,000 people showed up for a venue that fits only 5,000 people.

Jazzlyn Damasco was in the lobby when she says she saw a stampede push through the front doors and trample fans and furniture.

"I got pulled by the shirt from security. I got pushed by a cop. I got pulled by the hair by a fan. I almost had a panic attack because so many people started to crowd up inside the halls," said Damasco.

Police say hotel staff called them for help just after noon Friday. Over twenty officers showed up to safely escort fans out. One fan was taken by ambulance to the hospital with minor injuries.

"The security said everyone get outside," said Damasco.

The event was shut down two hours after it started. Damasco and thousands of others paid $65 a ticket for the two day TanaCon. In tears she called a friend to pick her up.

"I rushed over here and as soon as I got here, I kid you not, there was children everywhere," said Sara Tarigan. "I've never seen an event that was this poorly planned out."

"When I went inside I thought I was gonna have a really good time," said Damasco. "I thought I'd see all my favorites and that never happened."

Some Tana fans never even made it inside.

"We stood three hours in the heat, just to be told to go home and check back tomorrow," said London Cohen, who drove all the way from Utah -- an eleven-hour trip.