After Crackdown, All’s Quiet on the Beachfront

Almost two years ago, Pam O’Neill stood on the patio of her home overlooking Aliso Beach County Park and watched with horror as police clashed in the sand with about 300 beer-drinking youths.

It took about 15 officers and a police helicopter to break up the July 3, 1988, melee that resulted in the stabbing of Lance Christy, 20, of Dana Point. Christy spent a week in the hospital recovering from his wounds.

Michael J. Munroe of Mission Viejo, who was 20 at the time, was arrested in connection with the attack and eventually pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon in February, 1989, according to court records. He served 180 days in Orange County Jail and was placed on three- to four years’ probation.

Today, all’s quiet on the beachfront, once considered by teen-agers from as far away as Huntington Beach to be a favorite spot for unobstructed partying.

Because of the stabbing and complaints from several residents who live within earshot of the county-owned beach, however, police began stepping up patrols last year to put a stop to the late-night rowdiness.

As a result, Police Chief Neil J. Purcell said, Aliso Beach is now problem-free, and local residents interviewed recently wholeheartedly agree.

“It’s been very quiet and peaceful here, thank God,” O’Neill said. “So far so good.”

“I don’t even remember any problems this summer,” added Mary Ann May, who lives two houses from O’Neill on Monterey Street, a residential neighborhood perched on the bluff about 100 feet above the beach.

For years, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was responsible for patrolling the area. But with annexation of South Laguna to Laguna Beach in 1988, the city Police Department took over.

That made it possible for an increase in police presence, Purcell said.

“Most of the problems we encountered were between 10 p.m. and midnight,” the chief explained. “We obviously were able to patrol the area better” than the Sheriff’s Department.

When officers first began patrolling the beach, they found that it had become a prime location for hundreds of teen-agers who converged on the sand each night to drink, take drugs and light bonfires, Purcell said.

The sounds of rock music, revving engines from cars and voices could often be heard over the steady traffic hum from South Coast Highway.

Sometimes the gatherings turned violent. In more than one instance, police responding to complaints were pelted with beer bottles by groups of teen-agers. During the 1988 Easter break, police were met with strong resistance from about 300 teen-agers who chanted “Hell no, we won’t go!”

“They just all of a sudden, bang, showed up,” O’Neill recalled of the string of 1988 disturbances that reached a climax with the July 3, 1988, stabbing of Christy.

“It was crazy, very crazy,” the resident said. “It was absolutely like Coney Island around here when they hit this quiet town.”

Actually, Purcell said, teen-agers looking for a little adventure had been frequenting Aliso Beach for years. But for some reason, 1988 was especially troublesome.

At first, he said, teens from Mission Viejo began converging on the beach because it was semi-secluded and stayed open until midnight.

“They told us that they liked it there because it was a place where they could come and get stoned and not be bothered,” Purcell said.

Later in the year, Purcell said, “punkers and skinhead types” from other areas of the county, including Huntington Beach and Santa Ana, began gathering at the beach at night.

By fall of 1988, city officials had the county change the beach’s hours of operation. Now, Purcell said, patrols cruise through the parking lot at 10 p.m. and announce that the beach is closing.

In addition, the county posted signs that warn against drinking on the beach, even though alcohol has long been prohibited on all county beaches.

Since the crackdown, problems have virtually disappeared, Purcell said. “The residents seem very pleased,” he added.

O’Neill, who led the effort to rid the beach of its night life, warned that the rowdiness may return with the recent reopening of the Aliso Beach fishing pier.

Until now, the pier has attracted local fishermen and strolling couples looking for a romantic view. But, O’Neill said, police will be extra wary when summer rolls around.

“You can never be too sure,” she said.