The L.A. Times Ran a Feature Story on Peters, Describing His Hobby of Cleaning up the Ballona Creek
Josey Peters, a Venice resident known for his voluntary work of picking up debris and trash from local beaches and tributaries, was brutally attacked in Santa Monica over the weekend; an incident that reportedly left him unconscious without knowing who carried out the attack.
Peters described to KTLA how he was bagging garbage near lifeguard tower 25 in Santa Monica around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday when a man in his 20s wearing black walked up next to him. People nearby told Peters the suspect walloped him several times before fleeing the scene. A lifeguard on duty told KTLA the weapon was likely a bat. Peters suffered a concussion, broken ribs, a broken collarbone and facial contusions.
“He could’ve killed me, his first strike was on my temple, on the side of my head and it knocked me unconscious,” Peters told KTLA. “He did have what looked like a big nose piercing kind of poking through his face mask … 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.”
According to KTLA, SMPD responded to the situation, although the status of the investigation isn’t clear.
In November of 2019, the Los Angeles Times ran a feature story on Peters, describing his hobby of cleaning the Ballona Creek of plastic cups, fast-food containers, spray paint cans and chip wrappers. The piece stated that Peters, detailed as someone who “still looks like the rock ‘n’ roll guitarist he once was” with “electrified hair” along with a “soul patch and skinny goatee”, would spend hours per week filling trash bags on L.A.’s beaches.
“My dad showed me how to pick up trash along Lake Michigan when I was seven,” Peters said to The Times. “I don’t know why more of us aren’t engaged in this kind of stuff … [concern about climate and the environment] are just part of being a normal human being.”
