Zuma Beach Again Peaceful Day After Violence Erupted

By noon Saturday, the haze had lifted at Malibu’s Zuma Beach, and about 400 sun-seekers, bearing tanning oils, cooler chests and bags of potato chips, had staked out patches of sand.

Most of the beach-goers were oblivious to the violence that, for a few brief minutes Friday, had turned this popular coastal strip into a battleground.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department also was out in force Saturday, deploying a special team of 12 deputies and two sergeants to patrol all 50 miles of Malibu’s beaches, concentrating on Zuma.

Rival youth gangs, armed with screwdrivers, clubs, pipes and other weapons, clashed at Zuma on Friday, resulting in a serious stab wound to a 17-year-old boy from Sylmar.

The youth, who was not identified because he is a minor, was reported in serious condition Saturday at Westlake Hospital.

About 50 baton-wielding Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers were called in to disperse the crowd, which had turned violent about 11:30 a.m. when gang members disrupted a football game on the beach.

Authorities said the gang members were from Pacoima. The beach was crowded with several thousand people, many of them high school and college students on spring break.

On Saturday, aside from a window screen that a group of youths had torn off a lifeguard station, barely a trace of Friday’s violence remained.

“It’s a very normal crowd today,” said Sgt. Cameron Mooney, who was part of the special patrol.

Among the beach-goers were Scott Rowitz, 21, and Larry Butterworth, 21, both of whom had returned to Zuma Saturday despite witnessing the previous day’s fighting.

Rowitz, a security guard from Van Nuys who had come to Zuma with his German shepherd, Patience, said he knew that trouble was ahead when he noticed a large number of youths descend on the beach who were not dressed in beach attire.

Suddenly, the youths began “going around randomly hitting people--with bats, screwdrivers, tire irons, whatever they could get in their hands,” said Rowitz. He said the only reason he avoided being hit was because his dog growled at the attackers.

“This is a mellow beach,” Butterworth, a landscaper, added, “but yesterday it was a mess.”