Hooligans on the beach

A LOOK BACK

I’m glad to see that the U.S. Open of Surfing and the X Games are

over, and that visitors to our beach can park their cars closer than

three miles away.

There is one thing I can say for this year’s events is that they

were very welled managed and under control.

Hot rod buff Norm Morrison reminded me of the time we were

standing on the Huntington Beach Pier in the 1980s and how we watched

as the crowd began turning into a fever pitched riot.

Sure enough, in a very short time the groups of hooligans began

throwing cans and rocks at police. Norm and I blew the scene really

fast.

Being a beach town is not easy especially when most of the action

happens in the summer months or on a hot weekend and sometimes these

turn into a full-blown riot.

Several years ago I wrote about the first riot that happened in

our town on June 5, 1949. In that riot a crowd of 300 people became

angry when Lifeguard Chief Bud Higgins attempted to arrest John

Botich of East Los Angeles for being drunk and causing a disturbance.

Higgins summoned two of our police officers and they placed Botich

under arrest. But a mob of beachgoers surrounded the two officers and

took Botich away from the officers and allowed him to escape.

Another group chased Higgins down Main Street and into the old

Standard Market where he hid in the store’s walk-in freezer until the

mob left the area.

Police later found Botich in Montebello and arrested him and he

had to pay a $25 fine.

This week we are going to look a similar happening in Huntington

Beach that occurred on our beachfront on Sunday, April 13, 1958.

Like Huntington’s first riot, alcohol started this one too. It was

two hours past noon that Huntington Beach Police Officers Ralph

Woolard and Michael Gillespie arrested a 21-year-old Whittier youth

named William Richards for being drunk and disturbing the peace.

Richards told police that he was looking for his shoes. Recently

re-elected Huntington Beach Police Chief Ben Dulaney just happened to

be down at the beach and witnessed the officers arresting Richards

and what followed.

A crowd of more than 2,000 people became angered and began to

throw rocks, beer cans and cups of sand at the officers. Chief

Dulaney called for reinforcements and Lt. Harold Mays, Sgt. Paul

Darden, Sgt. Herbert Oldenburg, Sgt. Elvan Biddle, Officers Fred

DeWitt, Melvin Remington, Julius Manley and Sam Catrabone responded

to the scene.

It was now becoming a full-blown beach riot. Police arrested three

ringleaders of this riot, Nicholas John Baker of Pico Rivera, Robert

Wilburn of El Monte and Ronald Hardin of Monterey Park.

More police were called to disperse the crowd. The motorcycle

units and 10 police cars from the California Highway Patrol came,

cars from Orange County Sheriff’s office answered the call for

back-up as did the cities of Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Garden

Grove. Help came from as far away as the Norwalk Sheriff’s station.

Even with all these police officers and their show of nightsticks and

blackjacks, the barrage of flying objects continued.

Chuck Wheeler, a reporter from the Register newspaper, was

assaulted by 19-year old Francis Mainella of Whittier while he

photographing the riot.

The only serious injury received in the riot was to an off-duty

policeman, Robert Wasserman from Montebello who received a bruised

shoulder.

Capt. John Seltzer promptly arrested Mainella for disturbing the

peace.

After an hour, and the threatened use of the fire hose and tear

gas, the rioters were brought under control. Those arrested were

brought the next day before Judge Celia Baker of the Huntington Beach

Justice Court.

A jury in her court found Nicholas John Baker guilty of disturbing

the peace and failure to disperse and Judge Baker ordered Baker to

pay a fine of $150 or serve 10 days in jail. His mother paid the fine

for her son.

Richards pleaded guilty to being drunk and failure to disperse and

was sentenced by Judge Baker to two years probation and a fine of

$250 or 25 days in jail.

For assaulting Wheeler, Judge Baker sentenced Mainella to six

years probation.

Justice was swift in Judge Baker’s courtroom for those who come

down and cause trouble at our beach.

Richard Hardin received a change of venue to a Long Beach court

and was found not guilty.

As you can see from both riots, the overuse of spirits was a

factor and at the next council meeting, Councilman Roy Bryant

recommended to Mayor Earl Irby that permanent signs be erected

stating that it is against the law to drink alcoholic beverages on

the city’s beach and the no alcohol law was to be enforced. In no

time 20 Masonite signs at $18 apiece were in place.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.