SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ A frenzied crowd of teen-agers ran wild at an autograph party for the Puerto Rican rock group Menudo and tried to tear clothing, shoes and earrings from their idols. Eight people were injured, including two who were hospitalized. A 15-year- old girl was arrested for disorderly conduct. ″She wouldn’t let go of one of the Menudo group members,″ said police Sg. Pete Velasquez. One young Menudo performer said he became so scared during the melee at Ingram Park Mall that he began crying. Another said he crawled like a commando beneath the stage to escape the screaming girls. The crowd estimated at 1,500 overwhelmed the mall’s 15 security guards, forcing authorities to call in about 30 police officers to help quell the disturbance, authorities said. None of the six Menudo members was hurt, and the group plans to go on with a scheduled Thursday night performance in San Antonio, a group spokesman said. Menudo has sparked similar displays of teen affection, which have been dubbed ″the Latin version of Beatlemania,″ during its international tours. When the girls jumped onto the stage, ″I was super-scared,″ said the group’s youngest member, 11-year-old Angelo Garcia. ″The choreographer thought at first I was laughing, but I had started to cry.″ One enthusiastic fan tried to take the boots off another group member, Ruben Gomez, 15, but he was able to save his footwear after he fell off the the 4-foot-high stage. ″They tried to pull my ear off,″ said Menudo member Rickie Martin, 15. ″They were trying to get to my earrings.″

KENS