LOS ANGELES (CN) — The civil trial over the Lunada Bay Boys, a group that has been called “America’s most notorious surf gang,” is now on hold, as parties in the lawsuit are reportedly close to reaching a settlement with Palos Verdes Estates.
According to court documents, the parties appeared in court, impromptu, on late Wednesday afternoon and informed the judge that they had “reached a partial settlement.” The case is now on pause until after Labor Day, when a status conference will be held.
The trial has been on a scheduled break since Friday, when Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff urged the sides to enter into mediation with a retired judge and hammer out a settlement.
Cory Spencer, a former LAPD officer, and Diana Reed, say they tried to surf Lunada Bay — a rocky, crescent-shaped beach surrounded by cliffs, tucked away in the exceedingly affluent city of Palos Verdes Estates — when they were harassed and intimidated by the Lunada Bay Boys.
An infamous clique well-known in surfing circles, the Lunada Bay Boys have long been accused of engaging in “surf localism.” jealously guarding Lunada Bay as their own terrain and bullying outsiders away.
In 2016, Spencer and Reed filed a federal class action against Palos Verdes Estates and 12 members of the Baby Boys, which they referred to as a “criminal street gang.”
The suit made novel use of the California Coastal Act, which limits development near the coastline in order to ensure public access to every beach in the state. The Bay Boys behavior, they said, and the city’s tolerance of it, amounted to illegal development and a Coastal Act violation, since it had the effect of limiting the public’s ability to visit the prized cove.
The Bay Boys had also built a large shack on the beach to hang out at — one instance of more literal development, they said, which the city turned a blind eye to, for years, though it was torn down in 2016.
The suit was dismissed, but Spencer and Reed later filed a similar complaint in state court. Twelve of the individual members of the Lunada Bay Boys have settled the case, agreeing to stay away from the beach for a year or pay between $35,000 and $90,000. One last individual, Alan Johnston, remains as a defendant, along with the city.
In 2021, the state court of appeals reversed a state dismissal, determining the Bay Boys’ actions constituted “a change in the access to water brought about by an organized scheme of harassment of, or similar impediment imposed on, those seeking access may be just as much a change in access to water as one brought about by a physical impediment.”
The bench trial began on August 5, during which Spencer testified to being run over by a Bay Boy on a surfboard and Reed testified about Johnston exposing himself to her.
But the plaintiffs have struggled to prove that Lunada’s localism is the result of an organized effort, and not, say, people just independently being jerks.
The plaintiffs have called two former defendants, accused of being Bay Boys, who have denied any such organized effort.
Local surfer Michael Papayans, told the court on Friday, “The only time I’ve ever seen someone get yelled at is if they’re doing something dangerous, or not following the etiquette.” He said there was no antipathy toward outsiders, no “pecking order,” and no such thing as the Bay Boys, except in public imagination.
By end of the week, the judge appeared to be growing impatient with the plaintiff’s case.
“I don’t need more evidence to establish that local surfers engage in localism for one reason or another — maybe having to do with where they live, maybe with breach of etiquette,” Riff told the lawyers. “I want to hear evidence concerning the acts that the plaintiffs say are the defendants conspiring with city. I need to know what the connections are with the city on the alleged conspiracy.”
He encouraged, not for the first time, both sides to enter into mediation and try to reach a settlement.
Riff suggested that the sides could settle part of the case. For example, they could agree that there had been a Coastal Act Violation, but could continue the trial to determine damages and/or attorneys fees.
The plaintiffs have said the suit isn’t primarily driven by money, and that they would be willing to settle if the city agrees to install a number of features that protect and encourage public access to Lunada Bay, such as welcome signs, a safer trail leading from the bluffs down to the beach, water fountains and bike racks. They also want increased police presence to ward off localism.
Palos Verdes Estates’ lawyers, too, have signaled a willingness to talk.
Johnston, the last remaining individual Bay Boy defendant, has appeared less eager. His attorney, Harry Safarian, declined in email to confirm anything other than the case is on hold.
None of the other lawyers in the case returned phone calls or emails requesting an update on settlement talks. In a text message, Spencer said, “Kind of preliminary for me to speak at this point.”