In a dramatic courtroom revelation, a California surfer recounted a terrifying encounter in which she feared for her life after a paddleboarder allegedly assaulted her in the ocean. The chilling incident reportedly unfolded off the coast of Morro Bay, leaving the victim shaken and the community in shock.
The altercation took place on August 23, 2025, when Haylee Red-Van Rooyen, 51, found herself at odds with Andrew Gustafson, 60, as they both navigated the waves. Prosecutors assert that Gustafson, who was paddleboarding, collided with Red-Van Rooyen, causing her to fall from her board. The situation escalated when she confronted him, leading to a violent response.
Red-Van Rooyen testified in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, detailing a horrifying sequence of events. She described how Gustafson allegedly struck her with his longboard, seized her by the hair, and forcibly submerged her underwater while hurling insults.
“I thought I was going to die,” she recounted, conveying the gravity of the situation during her court appearance last Wednesday. Her testimony was reported by The San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Gustafson’s charges were later adjusted as the District Attorney’s Office chose not to pursue the most severe accusation. This decision leaves many in the community questioning the legal process and seeking justice for the harrowing ordeal Red-Van Rooyen endured.
He was initially booked on suspicion of attempted murder. However, the District Attorney’s Office did not pursue this charge.
Gustafson was charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon – one with force likely to produce great bodily injury – three days after the incident.
He pleaded not guilty to both accusations and the case is bound for trial.
Andrew Gustafson, 60, seen in his mugshot from August
The altercation took place in the ocean off Morro Bay
Red-Van Rooyen says she had been surfing with a group of friends as she did regularly. Gustafson then began paddleboarding in the middle of them, she claimed.
He then recklessly rammed into her, shoving her off her board when she said there was plenty of room for him to avoid her, the court was told.
‘He proceeded to take about three waves and just in the middle of us, so we would have had to pull off the waves,’ she explained, according to The Tribune.
On the third time, Red-Van Rooyen said she was ‘way down the line’ from Gustafson, meaning she was far from him.
‘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 admitted that she gave Gustafson a piece of her mind after the shocking collision.
‘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 told the court.
‘I told him that wasn’t cool, that wasn’t right, not necessary.’ She also confessed to calling him a ‘d*ck’ and an ‘a**hole.’
A stock image of someone surfing. Red-Van Rooyen was catching waves when the incident allegedly occurred
This is when she said that Gustafson lost control of his temper.
He allegedly started yelling ‘f*ck you’ and calling her a ‘f*cking b*tch’ before he struck her with his board on the right side of her body.
Gustafson is accused of continuing to berate her – calling her a ‘f*ckin wh*re’ and a ‘f*cking c*nt’ before he grabbed her hair and dragging her underwater.
Although he allegedly did so for only about three seconds, she said it felt like an eternity.
‘I thought I was going to drown,’ she recalled in terror.
She reported him to state park rangers when she returned to the shore.
Gustafson’s lawyer Ilan Funke-Bilu described the altercation as a ‘classic story of surfer versus paddleboarder’ and requested that the charges be dropped to misdemeanors.
But Judge Crystal Seiler denied this request because of the severity of the accusations.
‘It does appear to me that the offenses in the complaint have been committed, and there is sufficient cause to believe Mr Gustafson is guilty of them,’ she said.
Gustafson is due back in court on March 2 for his pre-trial hearing.
But Funke-Bilu alleged to the Daily Mail that ‘he is the victim in this case, not the other way around.’
‘I think there has been a “battle of the sexes” dynamic that’s being played – the ogre man versus the innocent lady,’ he continued.
‘We’re looking forward to laying it out, blow by blow, as it happened in the Pacific Ocean.’
Deputy District Attorneys Ashley Cervera, Rajesh Chabra and James Michael Graff-Radford are representing the state.
The Daily Mail has contacted the DA’s office for comment.
