A man clearing garbage from the beach was brutally attacked in Santa Monica on Saturday night. He was beaten unconscious and has no idea who did it — or why.
Venice resident Josey Peters could be called the “guru of garbage.” He’s been collecting refuse and debris from the beach for nearly two decades. The Los Angeles Times has even done profile pieces on him.
But a stranger recently crushed Josey’s bones like Josey crushes plastic bottles.
“He could’ve killed me, his first strike was on my temple, on the side of my head and it knocked me unconscious,” Peters said. “He could’ve easily killed me doing that.”
Peters said he was doing what he does, bagging garbage near lifeguard tower 25 in Santa Monica around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, when he noticed a young man in his 20s, wearing all black, almost “like a ninja,” walk up beside him.
“He did have what looked like a big nose piercing kind of poking through his face mask. He looked unusual, but there’s a lot of unusual people around here. It doesn’t bother me,” Peters told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe. “All of a sudden, I was unconscious, I was on the ground. This guy hit me on the side of the head with a martial arts-type staff.”
Witnesses later told Peters that the stranger in black walloped him repeatedly before walking away from the scene of the beating. A lifeguard on duty nearby who heard the emergency call on the radio told KTLA the weapon was described at that time as a “bat.”
Among the injuries, Peters suffered broken and bruised ribs, a broken collarbone, contusions on the left side of his face and a concussion.
Josey Peters suffered broken bones and a concussion after he was attacked while collecting garbage at a beach in Santa Monica on June 29, 2024. (KTA) 
Josey Peters suffered broken bones and a concussion after he was attacked while collecting garbage at a beach in Santa Monica on June 29, 2024. (KTA) 
Josey Peters suffered broken bones and a concussion after he was attacked while collecting garbage at a beach in Santa Monica on June 29, 2024. (KTA)
What seems to be the most confusing for Peters, is trying to figure out why he was targeted.
“This guy wasn’t ranting, he wasn’t raving, he wasn’t out of his mind,” he said.
Santa Monica police and fire responded to the emergency call and the current status of the investigation is unclear.
Peters is just one of the latest victims of violence in the beach communities of Santa Monica and Venice. Concerned citizens and business owners are pushing for hiring more police officers and increasing patrols.
In the meantime, the “guru of garbage” says he will continue to follow his passion undeterred.
“I am devoted to the environment and this is not going to scare me away from the beach,” he said. “I will be more aware.”
Anyone with information about the assault on Peters is urged to contact their local police.
