After the Crash

Scott Ayakatubby had driven from Hermosa Beach to El Segundo dozens of times before March 27 but had no idea how he made it those six miles that night without killing himself.

Or somebody else.

It was a Saturday and Ayakatubby, 39, a premier professional beach volleyball player, had been drinking before he got in his 3-month-old pickup truck -- his prize for topping the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals 2003 season points list -- and started toward home.

A few blocks from his destination, he sideswiped a car parked on the side of the street.

Then another. And another, and more.

He ripped side mirrors off some, scraped others and stopped only when he crashed into one hard enough that his truck became disabled. In all, six vehicle owners filed damage reports, but police said more may have been hit.

Ayakatubby wouldn’t know. He barely remembers that night, the details lost in a fog of alcohol.

In another way, though, it’s a night he will never forget, because it was a slap-in-the-face reminder that alcoholism had killed his father and brother.

“The worst thing that could have happened to me was something alcohol-related,” Ayakatubby said. “But it was a learning experience. Alcoholism runs in my family, and I need to deal with me.”

Ayakatubby’s father, Gary, died four years ago of liver failure attributed to alcohol abuse. His brother, Greg, 40, died last April of complications from a head injury sustained in an alcohol-related fall.

Sitting on Hermosa Beach, between gently breaking waves and a dozen volleyball courts, Ayakatubby seemed at peace with changes he has made since that night.

He says he regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as part of his sentence for driving under the influence. He also says that, aside from an occasional lapse, he has always been able to control his own drinking. March 27, he says, was an isolated incident, a night when moderation slowly became excess and clouded his judgment.

But experts on alcoholism say that when it runs in your family, the risk increases. The DUI worried those close to Ayakatubby, especially having come so close to his brother’s death.

“There are times when I’m concerned about him,” said Brian Lewis, Ayakatubby’s playing partner and his closest friend on the AVP tour. “When he was caught drinking and driving, I thought, ‘Wow.’ I was hoping Greg’s death was going to have a better effect.

“But I know that deep down, Scott has a good heart. I have faith that he will make the right decisions.”

Nine months before his death, Greg Ayakatubby, a longtime alcoholic according to Scott, went into a coma after he fell and hit his head during a drunken stupor. He came out of the coma after a few days and eventually returned home but had lost some of his speech and motor skills.

Ayakatubby said he tried his best to take care of his older brother but couldn’t be there at all hours and Greg eventually returned to drinking.

One day when Scott went to visit, Greg didn’t answer his door. Ayakatubby summoned the landlord, who let him in. His brother had died.

“I’ve never seen a dead body before,” Ayakatubby said. “It was like an empty suitcase laying there.”

After Greg’s death, Lewis said he noticed a change in his partner. Ayakatubby became more focused, channeling his anguish into volleyball. They won the Hermosa Beach Open in June 2003, a title they are defending this weekend, and ended the season with an AVP-leading 2,538 team ranking points. Ayakatubby’s 19 victories in his career are 17th on the all-time list and his $925,645 in earnings are 12th. Karch Kiraly, beach volleyball’s winningest player, once called Ayakatubby the best volleyball player he’d seen.

Lewis agrees: “He is probably one of the most gifted players ever to play. If you were to create a prototype player as far as all-around skills, he would be it.”

Away from volleyball, Ayakatubby keeps to himself. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, he sticks primarily with friends from the neighborhood rather than hanging out with other AVP players. Lewis is one of the few players with whom Ayakatubby spends time.

The third-oldest player on the tour behind Kiraly and Mike Whitmarsh, Ayakatubby embodies the laid-back beach scene, recalling that he wanted to become a beach volleyball player from about the time he was 6. His uncle, Matt Gage, was a 28-time professional tournament winner in the 1970s and ‘80s.

“I never thought about doing anything else,” Ayakatubby said. “I love being out here on the beach. I love being sandy and sweaty.”

After his drunk-driving incident, Ayakatubby moved back to Hermosa Beach, where he is known as much for the accident as he is for his athletic skills.

“Some people around here just treat me like I’m a child molester or something,” Ayakatubby said. “I’ll be walking down the strip and I’ll see them grab the kids and be like ‘There’s that guy.’ ”

Ayakatubby refused to have a breath or blood test taken the night of his arrest, so there is no record of his intoxication level, but he acknowledged that he was “pretty drunk.” However, he doesn’t understand why getting caught makes him an outcast.

“How many people can look in the mirror and say they’ve never driven when they shouldn’t have?” Ayakatubby said. “We’ve all done it. The smart ones realize that’s not the way to go, and they don’t do it again. I’ll never drink and drive again.”

Not driving is out of his hands for at least another month. His license was suspended for 90 days as part of his sentence.

Not drinking is the hard part. To help, he thinks of his mother, Pam, who has already lost a husband and one son to alcohol. She couldn’t be contacted for this story, but Ayakatubby’s uncle spoke for the family when he said he was “shocked, saddened, worried,” by Scott’s drinking-and-driving incident.

Drinking is part of the AVP lifestyle. Beer companies have, for years, been major sponsors of the tour. Ayakatubby said that players, while not required to drink, are encouraged to attend pre- and post-tournament sponsor parties.

“Years ago, they would have an ice chest full of beers for us and whoever lost that day and was out would start drinking and partying,” Ayakatubby said. “But it’s not like I ever partied more than some of the other players.”

As for the night of March 27, he says he remembers the police arriving -- and the door closing on his jail cell. What he doesn’t remember is crashing into parked cars.

“Every day I think that I’m so lucky that I didn’t kill somebody,” he said. “I don’t know how I could live with that or deal with that.”

Ayakatubby was originally charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, possession of a controlled substance and hit and run. That was reduced to DUI and three counts of misdemeanor hit and run. A judge sentenced him to three years of summary probation, 48 hours of DUI classes, 12 AA classes and a $1,600 fine.

He also paid for the damage he caused.

“It took me like a week to come out of my house because I was so ashamed and embarrassed,” Ayakatubby said.

Now, he said, he hopes to serve as an example.

“I just hope people can look at my situation and just kind of open their eyes to the fact that I was so lucky that I didn’t kill anybody and so lucky I didn’t hurt myself,” he said. “That could have happened so easy.”