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Inset: Andrew Gustafson (San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office). Background: California’s Morro Bay, where Andrew Gustafson allegedly attacked a female surfer and held her underwater (KSBY/YouTube).
A paddleboarder from California is facing trial for allegedly attacking a female surfer in the ocean by pulling her hair and submerging her underwater while hurling offensive language, as reported by the victim.
“I thought I was going to die,” testified Haylee Red-Van Rooyen at a recent preliminary hearing for Andrew Gustafson, 60, who faces two felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon—specifically, his paddle—according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune.
One of these charges involves assault with force likely to cause great bodily harm. The incident is said to have occurred at Morro Strand State Beach in Morro Bay.
“He grabbed my hair and held me underwater, and I didn’t know if I was going to survive,” Red-Van Rooyen testified. She described how Gustafson allegedly used profanities and derogatory names after cutting in on a wave behind her and colliding with her using his paddleboard.
Gustafson reportedly shouted repeatedly, “F— you, you f— b—!” along with other vulgar insults.
Red-Van Rooyen said she was with a group of surfers and Gustafson was taking waves “just in the middle of us,” the Tribune reports. “I was way down the line,” she told the court, meaning she was far away from Gustafson while on a longboard.
“He took the wave from behind me and came just tearing down the line, and then ran into the back of me and knocked me off the board,” Red-Van Rooyen alleged. “I was so shocked. … There is absolutely no reason to, you know, fly down the line when you see someone in front of you and hit them. You could damage the board, you could hurt the person. … There was no reason for that.”
Upset over what had allegedly occurred, Red-Van Rooyen admitted to yelling at Gustafson and asking “what the hell are you doing?” while calling him a “d—k” and “a—hole,” according to the Tribune. “I’m a woman that was raised to stand up for myself, and I didn’t want it to happen to anyone else, so I confronted him,” she said. “Told him that wasn’t cool, that wasn’t right, not necessary.”
Gustafson allegedly did not take Red-Van Rooyen’s tongue lashing well and proceeded to attack her in the middle of the ocean with his paddle, according to prosecutors.
“He raises his paddle, and at that point, I know that he’s going to hit me,” Red-Van Rooyen explained. “I felt very afraid.”
Prosecutors say Gustafson struck Red-Van Rooyen with the paddle; her wetsuit protected her from sustaining cuts. Gustafson “continued to scream” at Red-Van Rooyen during his alleged attack, saying “‘you f—ing b—h’ over and over,” according to her testimony.
Gustafson’s lawyer Ilan Funke-Bilu did not dispute that an incident had occurred, but argued that it was “the classic story of surfer versus paddleboarder,” according to the Sacramento Bee. He reportedly requested that the felony charges be dropped to misdemeanors.
Gustafson was arrested in August 2025 and originally charged with attempted murder, but the DA’s office declined to pursue that charge. A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court judge ruled that there was “sufficient cause to believe Mr. Gustafson is guilty” of the assault offenses laid out by prosecutors and Red-Van Rooyen.
“It does appear to me that the offenses in the complaint have been committed,” the judge said, according to the Tribune.
Online court records show that Gustafson was released on a $25,000 bond in August and is due to appear in court for his arraignment on March 2.