A University student was arrested early Friday morning for carrying a handgun after allegedly being involved in a fight that stemmed from a possible racial altercation outside of Tatoo nightclub.

The student, Carlos Rivera, 25, of 349 W. Clinton Ave., was released on $5,000 bail after appearing before District Magistrate Clifford Yorks, University police Services said.

The fight occurred between two groups of three to four men on the 400 block of Calder Way. One group consisted of black people and the other was a group of Hispanic people, the State College Police Department said.

By the time police arrived, the crowd from the fight had dispersed. Police received a call from an unidentified person who said a group of four or five Hispanic men were "cruising for revenge" against the black men after a fight outside of Tatoo, 420 E. College Ave.

State College police said a car was seen outside of Baby's Burgers & Shakes, 131 S. Garner St., with a large group of people in it, and they contacted University police with the car's description.

The car was spotted on campus stuck in a snow bank on McKean Road near Cross Hall by a University police officer. The officer found five men inside the car and two men trying to push the car out of the snow. He then questioned the men, allegedly found Rivera's gun and confiscated three knives. Rivera was taken into custody, University police said.

Andrew Zangrilli, Tatoo's owner, said he did not hear of any incident that took place outside the nightclub. The club did not have any problems, and if there was trouble, it was with out-of-town people, he added.

Zangrilli said he has not noticed any racial tension at the nightclub. Police come to the club near closing time, he said, adding that the nightclub's management has not asked for extra police protection in recent months.

Some people speculated that there are more police officers present outside of Tatoo on Thursday nights for racial reasons because it is Rap Night and there tends to be a larger percentage of black and Latino patrons. But State College Police Chief Tom King denied those rumors.

Larry Moore, Tatoo's general manager, said he is at the club every night and does not think there is are excessive number of police cars present on Thursday nights.

"I am out there every night," he said. "There is not a problem."

But Luis Fernandez, president of the Puerto Rican Student Association, said he has always noticed a large police presence when there is a large gathering of minorities.

"When there's a big concentration of blacks and Hispanics, there are always more cops around," Fernandez said. "That's not new."

In spring of 1992, black students boycotted the McDonald's Restaurant, 442 E. College Ave., to protest what they perceived as an excessive police presence on weekend nights when the restaurant was frequented by black people.

King said there are more officers present at Tatoo on Thursday nights -- but not for any racial reason. After Tatoo closes, there appears to be a gathering of about 600 diverse people, he said.

"We tell our officers that during bar-closing time, there's a large population leaving," he said. The extra police officers are there solely for precautionary reasons, he added.

Ali Thrower, National Pan-Hellenic Council co-president, who saw the end of the fight, said, "As far as what happened, it wasn't racially motivated."

Carina Defferrire, Latino Caucus president, said she did not know about the incident, but does not think it was racially motivated. Locally, the relationship between Latino and African-American people is good and there is no tension, she said.