Police said three Marines were assaulted at the San Clemente Pier. An investigation is ongoing. (San Clemente Life)
SAN CLEMENTE, California– A video circulating online has captured a disturbing incident where a group of teenagers allegedly assaulted three military members in San Clemente, California, over the Memorial Day weekend.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the altercation took place on Friday, May 26, at the pier.
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Deputies were called to the scene at 9:50 p.m. in response to reports of a large group of juveniles and an assault.
The incident involved three Marines and multiple individuals who were described as juveniles and young adults.
According to witnesses, a large group of people had gathered at T-Street Beach near the San Clemente Pier around 10 p.m. on the night of the incident.
Video shows teen mob pummeling Marines on California beach.Disturbing video posted on social media shows what police say is a group of teens beating Marines in San Clemente, California, over Memorial Day weekend. (San Clemente Life)
A one-minute video that surfaced on Nextdoor, a neighborhood social media platform, captured a person throwing a punch at one of the alleged victims from behind, which triggered a larger fight.
The injured victim retaliated by lunging at the assailant, and the video shows the mob subsequently kicking the victims. The footage depicts a chaotic and violent scene.
The video footage captured two victims on the ground in a fetal position, attempting to protect themselves as the mob continued to kick and punch them.
However, two bystanders stepped in to intervene. One brave woman positioned herself between the victims and their attackers, extending her arms and shouting for the violence to stop.
Although the Orange County Fire Authority was present at the scene, all victims declined medical assistance.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation into the incident and has pledged to identify and prosecute all individuals involved in the assault to the maximum extent permitted by law.
“This is considered an assault with a deadly weapon because of the amount of suspects we are investigating,” Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Frank Gonzalez
“The weapons that were used were their feet while these victims were on the ground. So, regardless if the victims choose prosecution or choose medical attention, the sheriff’s department is going to investigate this to the fullest and try to determine who the suspects are,” Gonzalez said.
According to Hunter Antonino, one of the Marines involved in the incident, he and his fellow Marines were “stomped on” and “beat up” by the mob. The confrontation reportedly began when the teenagers were instructed to cease lighting fireworks.
Darren Rude, a resident of San Clemente, stated that he observed around 40 kids on the beach lighting fireworks before the reported assault occurred.
He mentioned that he had to ask a group of five kids who were smoking marijuana to leave his property, and he also noticed others consuming alcohol.
Rude captured a separate fight on video that occurred on the beach approximately 30 minutes before the alleged incident involving the Marines at the pier.
“They started getting rowdy, jumping on top of the restaurant on the beach called West Toast,”.
“They were yelling, screaming, fireworks going off on top of the restaurant, fireworks being shot at each other.”
According to Darren Rude, he made three calls to police dispatch to report the fireworks.
He claimed that the police informed him that they were aware of the situation but were too occupied to address kids celebrating graduation at the beach and anticipated a challenging summer regarding fireworks.
Rude stated that he made a fourth call, this time to 911, to report the first fight. Subsequently, two police cars were dispatched to the beach.
Rude mentioned that he observed officers shining flashlights down from a nearby cliff, causing the crowd to move toward the pier. However, the details of Rude’s dispatch calls could not be confirmed by law enforcement.
“I really believe that if they had acted earlier they would have prevented it all from happening,” Rude said.
