Advertisement
Surf gang (pictured) not following rules. Photo: Point Break
Surf gang (pictured) not following rules. Photo: Point Break

Case against notorious Bay Boys unravels after surf gang member reveals “there are no rules”

"I don't know why I said there were rules. Maybe I was drinking."

Now, tales of the Southern California gang Bay Boys have long been shared by surfers to their children as horrifying bedtime stories in order to keep young charges on edge and alert. “Be careful tonight, li’l Koa, or the Bay Boys will come through your windows, build a makeshift fort in your room and tell you to ‘scrub it.'”

The notorious association guarding Palos Verdes’ Lunada Bay have long been in the news but, more recently, brought to trial for being dangerous and lewd. Various witnesses describing levels of vicious intimidation rarely seen outside of the Amazon jungle. Exposing genitalia, for instance, when changing out of wetsuits or throwing rocks near to people.

One case, currently winding through the courts, though is quickly unraveling and with it the Bay Boys‘ reputation as more dangerous than MS13. Two Bay Boys were examined during the civil proceedings. First, Sang Lee how had been busted for sending a rambling email to other Bay Boys in which he called himself a pirate and said he would “die by these rules.”

The honorable plaintiffs attorney Vic Otten asked him, “Is it true that you believe Lunada Bay belongs to you and a select group of people?” Lee responded, “No, I don’t think so. It has a special place in my heart. We try to clean up the area…” then said the wave was not “world-class” merely “better than average.”

Next, Otten asked him about the “rules.” Lee answered, “What are the rules? There’s no rules. I don’t know why I said that…” before adding “I don’t know, maybe I was drinking.”

In regards to the “pirate” reference, Lee replied he called himself one because, “I kind of like pirates.”

When plaintiff Thomas Long was called, he admitted under cross examination that he was simply told the “things he was doing were not inconsistent with surfing etiquette” and that he’d never been threatened or subjected to violence.

The judge, Honorable Lawrence Riff, became visibly frustrated when told there were 17 victims waiting to share their stories of woe, sighing, “It will be unduly cumulative, and will be an undue consumption of time.” He then said settling the case would be best for everyone.

According to the plaintiff’s second attorney, Mr. Franklin, their clients don’t want money but rather “want the city to install a panoply of improvements to encourage public access: signs welcoming visitors and pointing them toward available parking, upgrades to the steep and rocky ‘goat trail’ leading down to the beach making it easier to descend, a blufftop sea telescope, as well as seating, water fountains bike racks and railing all along the blufftop.”

Sounds fun.

More as the story develops.

0 0 votes
Article Rating

Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.

Join the discussion

Your comments are still here. Every one of them.

Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.

Unclaimed
Handle
Comments
Posting since

Connect Disqus to reveal.

Subscribe
Notify of
37 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
DAVEE

How much for that lemon meringue pie?

Abscessed Llama

He beat me in a pool game.. and Yes he can surf!

DAVEE

How much for that lemon meringue pie?

Hippy

Mikey is cool

Hippy

no

Hippy

It’s not even in the top 5 spots in LA.

Hippy

Unfortunately, the wave doesn’t warrant the attention.

Nothing to see, find a new reason to be upset.

Picard Madeoff

I must be getting old as when I was single I never dated a single girl with a cat. Granted I suspected one of them of having a cat, but I soon realized the smell was from another source when I noticed it at my house when he was there…

Com Turren

Imagine filing a lawsuit over localism at a longboard wave tho

Hippy

People rode Hawaiian styled guns in my day….. I rode a sub 6′ twin.

One defense to that crew, they’ve seen how fucked up every other surf spot has become and however ne’erdowell their effort, that’s what drives them.

Show up alone and go surfing.

Abscessed Llama

MC= Micheal Ciaramella on this hard candy..

Sean Connery

Q:What does the priest say to the little boy when they are in a room alone together?
A:Want to see my telescope?

QuikRustyBongRip

I think he’s talking about the tiny annoying ashton shadowed hobbit Michael Ciamorela.

Noncompetitor

Plenty of spots have easy access and surly locals, won’t change anything

Preston

Grew up 45 minutes away. We thought about it a few times but all told it’s still just a big burger.

Surf Coach/Great Human

Burger central, no doubt. But 1.5 times a year when just the right swell rolls through, it does look fun. There’s a one or two videos on YouTube that show it at some legit size on those days. Of course the Bay Boys are all out there on furniture fit for the Cortes Bank

Dennis McLaughlin

Drove by in the late 80s after surfing elsewhere, just to see what it looked like… grown men with fat ‘staches yelling “get the f*ck out of here!” Being scared teenagers, we never even slowed down to look…

yipykiyaymf

El Guapo says he’d clean up that beach and have more than enough energy left over to serenade the waitresses 🤟 https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

Internet Technician - Level 5

“you know da rules?

ihatesurfing

I don’t get why they don’t just put some Surfline cameras or city cameras in to monitor this beach. Once these dorks know they are being recorded I find it hard to believe they’ll be as aggressive. What am I missing?

Gadoot

The cameras will be vandalized

Beef & Beer

I thought we’d been lead to believe the Palos Verde area surf gangs were made up of ‘white & might is right’ types ?

Sang Lee How sounds Oriental in origin though…

Hippy

Ironically, the “gang” is often Attorney’s sons. Judges sons.

Very few can surf well.

Picturesque cove though. Avalanche is under rated in comparison.

mike m

Looks like they need to call in the big guns or at least the Raygun

https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

Picard Madeoff

My gay friends have told me that for years.


37
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x