City Officials Decry ‘Heinous Crime’ at Emergency Meeting

Outraged by what police believe was a hate crime that has left a man near death, city officials were attempting to calm residents here Saturday as news of the attack raced through the community.

While police continued to interview possible witnesses, the Laguna Beach City Council called a special emergency session to discuss the attack and express its horror at what Mayor Lida Lenney called the “heinous crime.”

“I think that news of the crime has traveled in the community and there is a great deal of fear,” Lenney said before the meeting. “I think it’s important for our council to meet and make sure everything that can be done is done to protect our citizens.”

Laguna Beach City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger said the session was the first emergency meeting in at least 16 years called to deal with something other than a natural disaster. All council members were present.

“Everybody here is very upset,” Rollinger said.

During the hourlong council meeting, officials offered a multi-pronged resolution which included renewed commitment to an ordinance passed in the early 1980s that bans discrimination based upon sexual orientation. Laguna Beach is the only city in Orange County that has passed such a law.

In addition, the council agreed to talk to city school board officials about educating students regarding discrimination against gays and lesbians, racial minorities and others. They also voted to re-evaluate police services in areas frequented by gays.

Frustration and anger was particularly evident among members of the gay community, who have worked with the Police Department for the past seven years to try to make residents feel safe.

“It’s outrageous, unbelievable,” said Doug Reilly, co-chairman of Laguna Outreach, an activist group for gays and lesbians, in an interview before the council meeting. “What is so threatening about sexuality? It’s a matter of letting people live their own lives. We’re not disturbing anybody else, so leave us the hell alone.”

According to Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Ray Lardie, who was on hand to brief the council, the attack occurred after a carload of San Clemente High School students who had been at Club Post Nuclear on Laguna Canyon Road “got bored” and headed for a beach frequented by gays.

“They knew what kind of area it was when they went down there,” Lardie said.

But a youth who told The Times he was with the suspect Saturday said that the group did not purposely seek out a beach frequented by gays.

Police say an unidentified man, 40 to 50 years old, was kicked in the head by one of the teens, suffering fractures of the face and skull. He is listed in critical condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Lardie said.

“He was beaten so badly the nurse couldn’t identify whether he is Latino or Asian,” Lenney said.

Police have arrested 18-year-old Jeff Michael Raines, a San Clemente High School senior and a resident of San Juan Capistrano. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.

Lardie said two witnesses who were standing on the stairwell about 15 feet from where the attack occurred under a full moon have identified the suspect in custody.

Laguna Beach has been particularly concerned about the safety of its gay residents since a 1983 incident during which a middle-aged man was attacked at Heisler Park, another area frequented by gays. Three men thought to be members of a neo-Nazi skinhead group were convicted in that crime.

In recent years, the Laguna Beach Police Department has worked closely with the gay community to try to better ensure their safety. In general, members of the gay community say they have been satisfied with the way police have responded to their concerns.

“We’re very pleased with the Police Department overall in Laguna Beach and the (City) Council has been enormously supportive of gay and lesbian issues,” Reilly said.

Craig Attebury, assistant manager of the Boom Boom Room, a gay bar which is near the crime scene, attended the council meeting, obviously shaken by the incident.

“This is not an ongoing problem,” Attebury said. “But it is something that needs to be dealt with.”

While police say no serious attacks have been committed against homosexuals in the past couple of years, Reilly, the Laguna Outreach co-chairman, said gays continue to be harassed in town. About six months ago, Reilly said he was walking with friends from the Boom Boom Room to the Little Shrimp, another gay bar, when a car passed and someone yelled “fags” before throwing an egg at a man walking ahead of the group.

“We’re always aware there are incidents in Orange County at or near gay bars,” Reilly said.

Laguna Beach Planning Commissioner Dan Wooldridge agreed that harassment is an ongoing problem for gays.

“I think probably there always has been physical violence or at least intimidation of gay men in those areas,” he said. “I just think much of it is not reported because gay people are not really always comfortable in terms of filing a police report.”

Reilly said this latest incident will be discussed at the next Laguna Outreach meeting on Wednesday and members of the group will consider how they should respond.

As part of their unanimously approved resolution, the City Council voted to discuss the incident with the Orange County Human Relations Council and with city and school officials in San Clemente.

“The schools need to think about it,” Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn said. “Certainly, San Clemente will be thinking about it.”