Police Files
Teen boy rescued and airlifted from Emerald Bay Beach after boulder severs his arm
In a tragic accident, a 15-year-old boy was struck by a boulder, severing his arm and pinning him against the rocks at Emerald Bay Beach on Wednesday, July 18. He was airlifted to UC Irvine Medical Center in serious medical condition but is expected to survive.
Local and county emergency services quickly responded to the teen who was walking along the rocks about 100 feet offshore at Emerald Bay Beach with a friend.
Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson PIO Capt Tony Bommarito said that he thinks the boy could be a local.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of LBPD
A teen loses his arm in tragic accident walking the rocks at Emerald Bay Beach; rescuers came fast airlifting him to UCI Medical Center
“His friend said that they’ve walked the area before. And his mom was with him. I can only speculate that they are [locals] unless they are a guest of someone,” Capt Bommarito said.
He explained that the boys were walking on the rocks along the waterline at the bottom of the cliffs. Basically along the waterline climbing up and down the rocks that were there, not scaling the cliffs or anything.
“His friend was with him. They were walking and a boulder came down about the size of a cooler, 400-500 pounds coming down. Hit him, knocked him down and basically landed on his right arm and severed his right arm in between his elbow and shoulder,” Capt Bommarito said.
At the same time, he said the teen was knocked backwards and his foot got stuck in a crevice or a rock. They had to move the boulder so they could get him dislodged from where he was stuck.
“There’s no damage to his foot; it just kind of got lodged and they couldn’t get him out of it until they moved the boulder that cut off his arm,” Capt Bommarito said.
LBFD Engine 201 was integral in saving his life.
“They had what are called rescue airbags or heavy rescue airbags. They’re real flat, but we can stick them under things and in really small spaces, and we expand them with an air bottle,” Capt Bommarito said.
The devices can lift thousands of pounds.
“They got the rock up enough so they were able to push it free from him and get him dislodged,” Capt Bommarito said. “They put him in a rescue basket, the OC helicopter came over, lowered the cable down and lifted him up into the helicopter and they went to UCI in serious condition.”
When asked how the teen was found and quickly rescued he said, “He started screaming or his friend started screaming which alerted the OC Parks lifeguards and one or two of them went over there, they put a tourniquet on his arm. That probably helped save his life, really.”
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Courtesy of LBPD
Teen is expected to survive because of the quick response of local and county emergency agencies
Asked about a timeline of the events, Capt Bommarito said, “The fire department got the call at 3:20 p.m. He was extricated and being flown out at 4:01 p.m. I am thinking about 50 minutes total from the time of injury to when he was loaded into the helicopter.”
As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, he said he hadn’t heard any updates about the teen’s condition. He went to the hospital on Thursday morning to check on him but was unable to see him.
Asking if he’ll be ok, he responded, “He’s going to live.”
As for safety precautions in that situation for beachgoers or adventurers, he said there are really none.
“You have to assume if you’re walking along a cliff that it’s unstable and unsafe until proven otherwise. And nobody is proving that it is, so you’ve just got to be cautious. Somehow you’ve got to be cautious,” Capt Bommarito said. “I’ve been a firefighter for 28 years. What it sounds like is just a fluke accident.”
He wanted to thank all the agencies involved in the rescue calling it a collaborative effort, which included OC Parks Lifeguards, LBFD and Orange County Fire Authority.
Large barge parks it at Thousand Steps Beach
On Wednesday, July 18, a large barge was spotted beached at Thousand Steps Beach. Stu News reader reports started coming in around 9 a.m. asking us what this barge was doing landing on our beach.
Stu News looked into the matter.
Greg Pfost, City of Laguna Beach Community Development Director, had some answers.
He explained that the barge was connected to a private residential project that is under construction at Thousand Steps Beach. The property has two structures, including a guest house right on the sand, and then it has a house further up the slope.
“The house that’s on the sand has been deteriorating so the homeowner received approval from the City to remodel the lower structure that’s on the sand,” Pfost said. “We don’t have a lot of structures on the sand but that one is so they got approval from the City to refurbish the house because it’s falling apart.”
The City submitted the approval for the owner.
“The contractor, he worked out with this barge company to bring materials to the site off this barge because it would have been very difficult to deliver the materials, including steel, which is very heavy, from Coast Highway,” Pfost said. “There’s this steep slope and there’s no good way to get down Thousand Steps Beach.”
The only other option would have been to use a crane and crane it in, but that would have been more expensive and cost prohibitive.
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Photo by Jim Peasley
A large barge at Thousand Steps Beach causes a stir among locals
“So they contracted this barge company. It’s the same barge company that was used by South Coast Water District years ago; they used the barge as part of their tunnel rehab project,” Pfost said.
The barge first made a trip on June 18 to bring in materials to the home site and this was the second trip, which was to remove materials.
The homeowner needed authorization from three agencies to move forward with their barge. The ocean is regulated by California Coastal Commission, the sand is a County beach in this case, and the home itself is on Laguna Beach land.
“What I made sure before this barge had any authorization to land is that they had County Parks’ approval because they were landing on their beach. They got approval from OC Parks,” Pfost said. “I also let them know they were arriving in waters and needed Cal Coastal Commission, and they got approval from the Coastal Commission.”
So they were able to land because they secured all of the authorizations from the agencies they needed. Aliso Fish & Wildlife was involved in the review as well.
The only other barge landing in recent history is the one he recalled earlier involving the South Coast Water District.
Stu News reader Brett Keast shared a memory from the 1970s of a barge landing at Three Arch, although that area was not incorporated as part of Laguna Beach at the time.
“Back in the early ‘70s my dad had a military barge land at Three Arch to bring in equipment and build volleyball courts and bathrooms,” he said.
Even with these three known barge landings over the past decades, none have been on a Laguna Beach City beach.
“To my knowledge there have been no barge landings on City beaches,” said Pfost.
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Bad mix: pills, $100 bills, coke, and meth land Tustin woman in jail
On Tuesday, July 17 at 6:49 p.m., LBPD conducted a vehicle stop in the 900 block of Glenneyre Street near Thalia Street. According to LBPD PIO Sgt Jim Cota, officers contacted a female, identified as Tustin resident Dianna Tateyama, 55.
“She was shaking and jittery as officers spoke to her. Officers observed a pill bottle of Ciprofloxacin, 15 pills, on the passenger side seat that was prescribed to Victor Hernandez,” Sgt Cota said. “She claimed the pills were hers and she did not know Victor Hernandez. This was a violation.”
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.
Tateyama consented to a search of her vehicle. Inside the center console were three narcotic pipes and two empty baggies containing cocaine and methamphetamine.
According to Sgt Cota, a female officer observed a clear plastic baggie hanging out of her bra. A search of the bra revealed two $100 bills and three small plastic baggies. Inside the baggies were cocaine and methamphetamine. Inside her wallet was $528.00 in cash. The baggies of narcotics were individually packaged with 4 grams of narcotics each.
Tateyama was arrested and booked on four felony charges: possession of a controlled substance for sales, transporting a controlled substance on a highway, possession of a controlled substance, and sales of a controlled substance.
Bail was set at $25,000.
Unknown substance sprayed on City Trolley, causing temporary panic
According to LBPD, on Thursday, July 19 at 4:24 p.m., officers responded to Laguna Avenue and South Coast Highway to a report of someone spraying an unknown chemical on a City Trolley.
“Several people on the City Trolley reported they were coughing and having difficulty breathing,” Sgt Cota said. “As the investigation continued it was determined someone may have sprayed something by mistake, possibly sunscreen.”
LBFD responded as well and found no caustic agent or anything suspicious.
“Allegedly there were five people who were experiencing irritation after someone allegedly sprayed some sort of unknown substance on the trolley,” LBFD Chief Ed Valdez said. “There were two fire trucks and one ambulance that responded – a total of four paramedics and four EMTs.”
The person who allegedly sprayed the substance was gone upon emergency responders’ arrival. He had gotten off the trolley and walked away, according to witnesses.
The scene was cleared around 5 p.m. as if nothing had happened.
No one was taken to the hospital and all of the trolley riders declined medical attention. Some of the trolley riders even admitted that the symptoms they were feeling could be psychosomatic, induced by thoughts of possibly being harmed.
