Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Only drunks on the sand in IB

Driver ditched girlfriend next to pier

“The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck."
“The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck."

“The car was right there next to the pier,” said Lisa Rodriguez. “The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck; he took off and left his drunk girlfriend in the car.”

Lisa Rodriguez: “I’ve haven’t seen that since the 1980s, when we were allowed.”

On September 4, I saw Rodriguez with her dog by the pier. She’s a lifetime resident of Imperial Beach and said that the joyride happened on Thursday at around 4 am; her Facebook-buddy captured the photo and posted it.

“I’ve haven’t seen that (civilians driving on the beach) since the 1980s, when we were allowed,” she said, “but recently it’s like one after another.”

"How can a tow truck even get in here?”

Another IB-er saw the the photo and reminisced with Rodriguez. “I [too] remember back in the day when we were allowed to drive on the beach and we used to haul wooden pallets there and burn them — those were the days.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

A family of five visiting from Chandler AZ asked if I could take a group portrait of them by the pier entrance; I obliged.

“There’s an entrance over there and one here by the lifeguard station.”

“On Saturday (September 1), I saw a white Jeep out on the sand by the pier and I was wondering,” Scott (the father) said. “You can’t drive on the beach anymore, right? We weren’t sure with the area.”

I replied: “No, I believe only lifeguards, law enforcement and first responders can …. unless on super-rare occasions, if there’s a car show and it’s regulated just to park.”

A guy with a metal detector and a shovel was digging in the same area where the joyrider got stuck. “I remember seeing a car out in the water and they had to pull it out with a tow truck,” he said, “but how can a tow truck even get in here?”

Rodriguez pointed to Cow-A-Bunga, the ice cream store by the playground, “there’s an entrance over there and one here by the lifeguard station.”

I knocked on the Dempsey Holder Safety Center doors, showed the lifeguard my press pass and he granted me access. I then showed the lifeguards the photo of the joy rider’s car by the pier.

“No, we didn’t catch that on our cameras,” said one of the lifeguards, “but that’s our pier [in the photo].”

The other lifeguard said he saw tire tracks by the spot and that the sheriff probably handled it before they arrived in the morning.

“We did catch this, though,” said the first lifeguard, as he played a video that their camera captured on August 21. It was of a SUV that was driven into their surf by the 1600 block of Seacoast Drive — and then ditched. “He was drunk too,” said the lifeguard.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
“The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck."
“The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck."

“The car was right there next to the pier,” said Lisa Rodriguez. “The guy was joyriding then his car got stuck; he took off and left his drunk girlfriend in the car.”

Lisa Rodriguez: “I’ve haven’t seen that since the 1980s, when we were allowed.”

On September 4, I saw Rodriguez with her dog by the pier. She’s a lifetime resident of Imperial Beach and said that the joyride happened on Thursday at around 4 am; her Facebook-buddy captured the photo and posted it.

“I’ve haven’t seen that (civilians driving on the beach) since the 1980s, when we were allowed,” she said, “but recently it’s like one after another.”

"How can a tow truck even get in here?”

Another IB-er saw the the photo and reminisced with Rodriguez. “I [too] remember back in the day when we were allowed to drive on the beach and we used to haul wooden pallets there and burn them — those were the days.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

A family of five visiting from Chandler AZ asked if I could take a group portrait of them by the pier entrance; I obliged.

“There’s an entrance over there and one here by the lifeguard station.”

“On Saturday (September 1), I saw a white Jeep out on the sand by the pier and I was wondering,” Scott (the father) said. “You can’t drive on the beach anymore, right? We weren’t sure with the area.”

I replied: “No, I believe only lifeguards, law enforcement and first responders can …. unless on super-rare occasions, if there’s a car show and it’s regulated just to park.”

A guy with a metal detector and a shovel was digging in the same area where the joyrider got stuck. “I remember seeing a car out in the water and they had to pull it out with a tow truck,” he said, “but how can a tow truck even get in here?”

Rodriguez pointed to Cow-A-Bunga, the ice cream store by the playground, “there’s an entrance over there and one here by the lifeguard station.”

I knocked on the Dempsey Holder Safety Center doors, showed the lifeguard my press pass and he granted me access. I then showed the lifeguards the photo of the joy rider’s car by the pier.

“No, we didn’t catch that on our cameras,” said one of the lifeguards, “but that’s our pier [in the photo].”

The other lifeguard said he saw tire tracks by the spot and that the sheriff probably handled it before they arrived in the morning.

“We did catch this, though,” said the first lifeguard, as he played a video that their camera captured on August 21. It was of a SUV that was driven into their surf by the 1600 block of Seacoast Drive — and then ditched. “He was drunk too,” said the lifeguard.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024
Next Article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader