California lawsuit aims to clamp down on Lunada Bay Boys surf gang
Stunning beach paradise in meltdown as marauding local surfer gang the 'Bay Boys' 'attack tourists, strip naked in front of women and recklessly surf'
A Los Angeles County surf spot has become a hangout for a group of rowdy, long-in-the-tooth surfers - known to verbally harass, flash, and throw rocks at visitors.
The group being branded the 'Bay Boys' has also been known to vandalize cars, a lawsuit alleges - one that claims the crew has been at it for decades, and points to a crudely built fort built under the Lunada Bay cliffs as their base of operations.
The federal class-action has been underway for decades, and claims the surfers' alleged antics come in violation of the California Coastal Act.
The law demands that members of the public have access to sites along the state's coast, which apparently has not been the case at the bottom of this bluff set along the cusp of the wealthy city of Palos Verdes Estates.
So far, 12 members of the group have settled out of court - leaving behind just two to fight back claims from two surfers who say they were harassed. A hearing was held this past Tuesday - the latest in the long-running proceedings.
A Los Angeles County surf spot has become a hangout for a group of rowdy, long-in-the-tooth surfers - known to verbally harass, flash, and throw rocks at visitors.
The group being branded the 'Bay Boys' has also been known to vandalize cars, a lawsuit alleges - one that claims the crew has been at it for decades, and points to a crudely built fort built under the Lunada Bay cliffs as their base of operations.
The federal class-action has been underway for decades, and claims the surfers' alleged antics come in violation of the California Coastal Act.
The law demands that members of the public have access to sites along the state's coast, which apparently has not been the case at the bottom of this bluff set along the cusp of the wealthy city of Palos Verdes Estates.
So far, 12 members of the group have settled out of court - leaving behind just two to fight back claims from two surfers who say they were harassed. A hearing was held this past Tuesday - the latest in the long-running proceedings.
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NewsTranscript
00:00They're going for a gang injunction and the lawyers are so committed in this case to getting
00:05this beach back open to everyone. They're doing it pro bono. I was really just frozen in fear
00:12and unable to do anything. Fear swept through surfer Deanna Reed when she was verbally attacked
00:18by a middle-aged man during her first visit to Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes Estates.
00:23Screaming profanities at me, making fun of my wet suit because it was purple,
00:28um you know just treating me in a very rude and very threatening manner. The 29-year-old from
00:34Malibu never did surf that day. Instead she left and filed a police report. Her second trip to
00:40Lunada Bay was even worse. She went to take photos of her friend's surf when two men approached her.
00:46One of them rushed towards me immediately with the can of beer, shook the can of beer vigorously
00:52and then sprayed the beer all over my arm and my camera. She says the other guy flashed her and
00:57rubbed his private parts in a sexual manner. They said they're filming me because they think that
01:01I'm sexy and you know that I excite them and all kinds of vulgar things that I'm trying to you know
01:10trying to get past. Reed says the men who attacked her allegedly belonged to a group of surfers
01:15known as the Lunada Bay Boys. They're known to intimidate outsiders by getting in the way
01:21of their waves, hitting them with boards and attacking them with rocks as well as
01:26vandalizing their cars. It's been going on forever the uh the younger kids and the localism
01:34how would how would you say it the trust fund bullies. Reed and hundreds of others have joined
01:39a class action lawsuit to stop the gang-like activity of this group by preventing them from
01:44congregating at Lunada Bay. The behavior which there's so much evidence of classifies these
01:51people as a gang injunction. The suit also names the police chief and city saying they turn a blind
01:58eye to the Bay Boys illegal activities. An asset that belongs to the public has been taken from the
02:04public for 40 years and we're giving it back. Well the police chief responded to us in an email
02:11saying that the city and the police department take public safety very seriously and that they
02:16will continue to monitor and enforce the laws at Lunada Bay as well as the entire community.
02:22For now reporting live in Torrance Mary Beth McDade we'll send it back to you guys in the studio.