Man Guilty of Attack During Pier Rioting

A 19-year-old Yucca Valley man was convicted Tuesday of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer for his role in the Huntington Beach riot last Labor Day weekend.

Sean C. Boles told an Orange County Superior Court jury that he picked up a bottle to keep anyone from using it as a weapon during the melee near the Huntington Beach Pier on Aug. 31, 1986. But Lt. Charles Poe, the Huntington Beach undercover officer who arrested him, testified that Boles not only threw the bottle at a line of police officers but yelled “kill the pigs” and later picked up a discarded lock and threw that, too.

Boles was acquitted of a misdemeanor assault charge arising out of his arrest. Poe had claimed that Boles spit on him when he tried to take him in. During the trial, Superior Court Judge Robert C. Todd dismissed a charge of inciting a riot, explaining to the lawyers that the riot clearly was already in progress before Boles’ alleged criminal conduct occurred.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans said the felony conviction Tuesday was important because “even though it was an isolated incident in a much bigger picture, this tells people that if you attack the police and get caught, you’re going to be prosecuted.”

Boles was one of 13 people arrested near the pier in a battle between police and beachgoers during which rocks and bottles were thrown. The trouble began when two or more men reportedly tried to remove the bathing suits of two young women not far from where a large crowd had gathered for the final day of the Op Pro Surfing Championships.

Boles was one of only two charged with felony assault.

Initially, Poe was the only prosecution witness who claimed to have seen Boles throw the bottle. Poe said Boles was wearing a white leg brace, making him easy to spot in the crowd. Poe said he continued to watch Boles after he threw the bottle and saw him encourage others to throw objects. Boles rummaged through a trash barrel looking for other objects to throw but was stopped by a middle-age couple who tried to calm him down, Poe testified.

Feared for Their Safety

Poe said he did not arrest Boles until later because he and his partner feared for their safety.

The defense countered with three of Boles’ acquaintances who said they did not see him throw anything, and Boles denied to the jurors that he had thrown anything at the police.

However, an Orange County man, Steve Wammac, read accounts of the trial in the newspapers and called the district attorney’s office. Wammac, testifying as a prosecution rebuttal witness, said he had seen a man in a white leg brace throw an object at the police.

“He definitely turned the corner for us,” Evans said. “He had no ax to grind. He was just there and saw what happened.”

Some jurors told reporters that they were concerned about the credibility of police officers who testified. But Evans said the majority of the jurors obviously were much more concerned with the credibility of the defense witnesses.

Boles, who is unemployed according to his attorney, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. But Evans said that because Boles has no prior record, he is eligible for probation and probably will end up with no more than a year in the Orange County Jail.

Judge Todd set sentencing for May 29. Boles remains free on $2,500 bail.