He went to the beach to pick up trash. He left the beach with broken bones and a concussion

Chris Wolfe and Travis Schlepp

24 mins ago

A man picking up trash on the beach was brutally attacked in Santa Monica on Saturday night. He was beaten unconscious and has no idea who did it – or why.

Josey Peters, a resident of Venice, could be called a “garbage guru.” He has been collecting trash and waste from the beach for nearly two decades. The Los Angeles Times even published a profile of him.

But recently, a stranger smashed Josey’s bones the way Josey smashes plastic bottles.

“He could have killed me. His first blow hit me in the temple, on the side of my head, and I lost consciousness,” Peters said. “He easily could have killed me.”

Peters said he was doing what he normally does: bagging trash near Lifeguard Tower 25 in Santa Monica around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday when he noticed a young man in his 20s, dressed all in black and almost “like a ninja,” walk up next to him.

“He had what looked like a large nose piercing sticking out through his face mask. He looked unusual, but there are a lot of unusual people here. It doesn’t bother me,” Peters told KTLA’s Chris Wolfe. “All of a sudden I was unconscious and on the ground. This guy hit me in the side of the head with a martial arts baton.”

Witnesses later told Peters that the unknown man in black had beaten him several times before leaving the scene. A lifeguard on duty nearby who heard the emergency call over the radio told KTLA that the weapon was described at the time as a “bat.”

The injuries Peters sustained include broken and bruised ribs, a broken collarbone, bruising on the left side of his face and a concussion.

What seems most confusing for Peters is trying to figure out why he was targeted.

“This guy wasn’t ranting, he wasn’t raging, he wasn’t crazy,” he said.

Santa Monica Police and Fire Departments 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, and concerned citizens and business owners are pushing for more police and increased patrols.

In the meantime, he will continue to follow his passion undeterred, says the “Guru of Garbage”.

“I care about the environment and it won’t keep me away from the beach,” he said. “I’ll be more mindful.”

Anyone with information about the attack on Peters is asked to contact local police.