A federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Lunada Bay Boys, a group of territorial Palos Verdes Estates surfers known for intimidating visitors
from their beloved coastal bluff, argues that the group is a criminal
street gang and should be banned from gathering together.
The
suit seeks a gang injunction against the tight-knit group, stating that
they “not only confront and attack other (beachgoers), but also
confront, threaten to kill, assault, vandalize property, extort, and
bring harm to other persons.”
The Lunada Bay Boys’ “severe localism combined with Palos Verdes
Estates’ historic disinterest in investigating” their crimes represents a
large-scale violation of constitutional rights of anyone who wants to
enjoy the beach, the lawsuit states. “By law, Lunada Bay is open to all.
In reality, it is open to few.”
• VIDEO: The Lunada Bay Boys’ patio looks out on the surfing spot
El
Segundo Police Officer Cory Spencer filed the suit with another surfer,
Diana Milena Reed, on behalf of themselves and others who say the Bay
Boys have verbally and violently attacked them for encroaching on a part
of the beach they claim for themselves.
In addition to a gang injunction that would make it illegal for
the Bay Boys to congregate together in the city, Reed and Spencer are
seeking numerous fines and payments for emotional and physical damages.
“Even
though Palos Verdes Estates is an exclusive community with more than 40
police personnel, Spencer and other surfers had to pay a security guard
$100 to watch their vehicles to protect the vehicles from vandalism
while they surfed,” the lawsuit states. “Reed was extremely frightened
and felt endangered and in fear of assault. Never in her life had she
been screamed and yelled at in such a manner. The man called her a
whore.”
Lunada Bay is considered to be special for surfers,
with winter waves rolling in untouched by any coastline, creating an
expert break, with 15-20 foot high waves that are not meant for
beginners.
• PHOTOS: A closer look at the Lunada Bay surfing spot
Hazing
and surfing often go together, especially as surfers compete for a
limited number of waves. But Lunada Bay’s international reputation for
being unfriendly to outsiders has been firmly established for decades.
The group has been widely accused of verbally and physically attacking
visitors, and outsiders have returned to their cars to find tires
flattened or antennas snapped or profanities scrawled in wax on their
windshields. This is the third civil-rights lawsuit filed against the
Bay Boys since 1995.
In 2014, a large group of surfers converged at the spot in protest of localism, with police monitoring the event.
City
and police officials have long been accused of looking the other way.
They say patrolling Lunada Bay and other areas of the bluffs is a
challenge because the beaches are remote areas accessible only by
winding trails and steep steps.
Both PVE Police Chief Jeff Kepley and City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch declined to comment Tuesday.
In an interview last year with the Daily Breeze, Kepley said that while the Bay Boys do have a gang mentality, they are not a gang.
“They’re not shooting people, they’re not stabbing people,” Kepley said.
But
the lawsuit lays blame on the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department,
arguing the agency ignored the problem and, therefore, the city does not
provide constitutionally required equal protection under the law.
“Plaintiffs
are suffering ongoing irreparable harm, including loss of sleep,
emotional distress, and mental anguish as a proximate result of Palos
Verdes Estates and Defendant Chief of Police Jeff Kepley’s deliberate
indifference to Plaintiff’s rights,” the suit says.
The lawsuit argues the group of surfers is a criminal gang and should be prevented from gathering and intimidating outsiders.
“Defendant
Lunada Bay Boys claims gang territory or ‘turf’ within the City of
Palos Verdes Estates’ Lunada Bay neighborhood,” it states. “A criminal
street gang as defined in California Penal Code ... is a group of three
or more individuals with a common name or a common symbol and whose
members individually or collectively, engage in or have engaged in a
pattern of criminal gang activity, and has as one of its primary
activities the commission of enumerated ‘predicate crimes,’ including
but not limited to assault, battery, vandalism, intimidation,
harassment, extortion.”
The Bay Boys also violated the California Coastal Act by
constructing an illegal development — a fort — at the base of the
bluffs, the lawsuit states. In January, the California Coastal Commission sent a letter to city officials expressing concern about the fort.
From=http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20160329/federal-lawsuit-claims-palos-verdes-estates-surfers-are-a-criminal-street-gang
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