AMHERST, Mass. (AP) – Police arrested 45 people late Saturday and early Sunday after students at a massive party near the University of Massachusetts campus threw bottles, rocks and other items at police, injuring 15 officers and damaging police vehicles.

Amherst police thought they had broken up the annual spring party known as the “Hobart Hoedown” on Saturday afternoon before it could grow out of control when they arrested 20 people for disorderly conduct and dispersed a crowd of up to 1,500 people, Capt. Mike Kent said.

But students gathered in the area again later in the evening, and it took three hours for 46 officers in riot gear from the town, university and state police to get things under control again.

Officers were hit by bottles, cans, rocks and lawn chairs during the disturbance. Several cruisers were damaged as well as property in the area. A fire was set in the middle of the street, obstructing traffic, and one vehicle was overturned, Amherst police said.

Four UMass police officers were injured responding to the disturbance, and one was treated and released at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, UMass spokeswoman Barbara Pitoniak said.

One person was also stabbed in the arm, but police are not sure if it is related to the party.

Twenty-eight of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, 11 were for inciting a riot, four were for carrying open containers of alcohol, one was for drunken driving and one was for assaulting a police officer.

Last year’s party attracted 2,000 revelers and resulted in 55 arrests.

University Chancellor John V. Lombardi said he was “appalled” by the events. He said the University would work with police, town officials, property owners and student leaders “to ensure that we do not continue to experience this behavior, with its damaging consequences to individuals and property and its high risks for everyone involved.”

He said the university would “take prompt and appropriate action” against any students who violated the school’s code of student conduct.

This year, the annual party on Hobart Lane, a residential street just north of campus, was advertised through posters, Internet postings and word of mouth.

The university said it had met with town officials to coordinate responses for events like the hoedown.

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