PITTSFIELD -- City police officers responding to a noise complaint inside Pepe's bar on Sunday had to call for reinforcements after a violent mêlée erupted outside the Wahconah Street watering hole.

Officers were unable to control unruly Halloween patrons as they exited Pepe's early Sunday morning and joined a fracas that was in full swing outside the bar.

Every on-duty officer in the city was summoned to the violent scene, which culminated in several arrests. Capt. John Mullin, the highest-ranking Pittsfield police official available for comment Monday, declined to talk about the fracas, which required police to use pepper spray on some of the combatants.

Officer Jason A. Breault was among the officers who responded to the original noise complaint shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.

In a report detailing the disturbance, Breault claimed that Pepe's was "filled to over capacity." He estimated that 150 to 200 people were inside the bar, whose official capacity was not immediately available.