An Ocean Beach regular was assaulted at Ocean Beach on Sun., March 11 at approximately 5:30 P.M. The surfer’s account of the incident is below. If you were a witness to this incident, or have any information about it, please contact the San Francisco Police Department (or SurfPulse to forward the information to the SFPD):
“I was walking home from surfing this afternoon (Sunday, March 11), at around 5:30 P.M. I was on the paved walkway above the beach parking lot at the end of Balboa, between stairwells 3 and 4, when out of nowhere some drunken jerk punches me in the side of the head. It was totally unprovoked, I didn’t even see it coming—I’m just walking home in my wetsuit with my surfboard under my arm, and the next thing I know, I’m on the ground getting punched. I chipped a tooth, have some scratches on my face, my nose is swollen and still bleeding a little (four hours later). I basically just wrestled free, and got the hell out of there. Some guy came up to me and gave me back my surfboard. Then another guy came up with a cell phone and asked if I wanted to call the cops. I said “Yeah!”. As he started to dial, the guy who hit me and one of his friends ran up to us and threatened us if we called the cops. At that point, I just turned and walked up to the Wise clothing store on the corner of Balboa and La Playa. I asked the girl at the counter to call the cops and asked if I could wash my face off in their bathroom. After I was cleaned up, I walked back to the beach, and evidently some witnesses had already called 911. There was a Park Ranger cruiser in the parking lot and I walked up to him and told him what had happened. We walked back to where I had been assaulted, but by that time, the guys who did it had already left. From witness accounts, there were basically two males and one female. After assaulting me, the female started shouting “Damien, let’s get out of here.” I guess at that point, they jumped in their red Ford Bronco and sped south onto the Great Highway.
Description of the assailants:
They were driving a red Ford Bronco, and had a large, leashed male pitbull.
Two males and one female—all wearing tank tops and shorts.
One of the males was named Damien.
I didn’t really get a good look at these guys (like I said, I didn’t even see it coming)—but I think they were Hispanic, one light skin (the one who hit me) and one dark skin (the one who threatened the guy with the cell phone). The cop wrote down that it was two Hispanic males from witness descriptions. They were drinking, and probably just looking to cause trouble.
Anyway, thought I’d pass on this information to you. I would encourage people to report drinking on the beach—mellow people having a few beers is one thing, but agro looking dudes with pitbulls getting hammered in the parking lot is another, and if the cops can clear them off the beach before they get too drunk, it could save someone else from getting sucker-punched like I did.”
Related posts:
