'I thought I was going to die': Paddleboarder holds female surfer underwater while calling her a 'f—ing b—' after he rammed her off her board, DA says

A California paddleboarder is acceptable to spell connected proceedings for allegedly attacking a pistillate surfer portion they were retired successful the mediate of the ocean, grabbing her by the hairsbreadth and holding the pistillate underwater portion calling her a "f—ing b—," according to the victim.

"I thought I was going to die," said Haylee Red-Van Rooyen during a preliminary proceeding past week for Andrew Gustafson, 60, who is charged with 2 felony counts of assault with a deadly limb — specifically, his paddle, according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune.

One of the felony counts is battle with unit apt to produce great bodily injury. The alleged onslaught happened successful Morro Bay astatine Morro Strand State Beach.

"He grabbed my hairsbreadth and held maine underwater, and I didn't cognize if I was going to marque it," Red-Van Rooyen told the court. She recounted however Gustafson allegedly cursed astatine her and called her vulgar names aft dropping successful connected a question down her and ramming the pistillate with his paddleboard.

"F— you, you f— b—!" Gustafson allegedly screamed implicit and over. "You f—ing w—e! You f—ing c—t!"

Red-Van Rooyen said she was with a radical of surfers and Gustafson was taking waves "just successful the mediate of us," the Tribune reports. "I was mode down the line," she told the court, meaning she was acold distant from Gustafson portion connected a longboard.

"He took the question from down maine and came conscionable tearing down the line, and past ran into the backmost of maine and knocked maine disconnected the board," Red-Van Rooyen alleged. "I was truthful shocked. … There is perfectly nary crushed to, you know, alert down the enactment erstwhile you spot idiosyncratic successful beforehand of you and deed them. You could harm the board, you could wounded the person. … There was nary crushed for that."

Upset implicit what had allegedly occurred, Red-Van Rooyen admitted to yelling astatine Gustafson and asking "what the hellhole are you doing?" portion calling him a "d—k" and "a—hole," according to the Tribune. "I'm a pistillate that was raised to basal up for myself, and I didn't privation it to hap to anyone else, truthful I confronted him," she said. "Told him that wasn't cool, that wasn't right, not necessary."

Gustafson allegedly did not instrumentality Red-Van Rooyen's lingua lashing good and proceeded to onslaught her successful the mediate of the water with his paddle, according to prosecutors.

"He raises his paddle, and astatine that point, I cognize that he's going to deed me," Red-Van Rooyen explained. "I felt precise afraid."

More from Law&Crime: 'When helium gets mad, helium conscionable freaks out': Teen accused of sidesplitting paddleboarder and past steering investigators distant from the transgression has a acheronian past of violence, authorities say

Prosecutors accidental Gustafson struck Red-Van Rooyen with the paddle; her wetsuit protected her from sustaining cuts. Gustafson "continued to scream" astatine Red-Van Rooyen during his alleged attack, saying "'you f—ing b—h' implicit and over," according to her testimony.

Gustafson's lawyer Ilan Funke-Bilu did not quality that an incidental had occurred, but argued that it was "the classical communicative of surfer versus paddleboarder," according to the Sacramento Bee. He reportedly requested that the felony charges beryllium dropped to misdemeanors.

Gustafson was arrested successful August 2025 and primitively charged with attempted murder, but the DA's bureau declined to prosecute that charge. A San Luis Obispo County Superior Court justice ruled that determination was "sufficient origin to judge Mr. Gustafson is guilty" of the battle offenses laid retired by prosecutors and Red-Van Rooyen.

"It does look to maine that the offenses successful the ailment person been committed," the justice said, according to the Tribune.

Online tribunal records amusement that Gustafson was released connected a $25,000 enslaved successful August and is owed to look successful tribunal for his arraignment connected March 2.