Surf fights typically end with shouting, a few bruised egos, and someone paddling away. This one reportedly ended with police pulling a surfer off a boat and making him sign an apology.
Australian pro Lennix Smith, 21, posted footage from an Indonesian lineup, specifically in the Mentawai Islands, showing another surfer dropping in before a heated confrontation. Smith said the man, who claimed to have lived in Indonesia for 25 years, grabbed his board, kicked it away and threatened to kill him.
Have a look at the clip, linked here, and below.
“For about 10 minutes straight,” Smith said, the man threatened to damage his knee and end his career. Smith also alleged that the surfer made a throat-slitting gesture. He said he’d tried to defuse the exchange: “What the hell? Chill out, bro.”
Smith described the man as Spanish, although other outlets have since identified him as an Italian expatriate. The circumstances preceding the filmed wave remain unclear, and the other surfer disputed Smith’s account in comments.
Related: Watch: Beach Fight Erupts in Cornwall As Family Ignores Storm Austen Red Flag Warning
Predictably, the clip spread across social media. Shane Dorian weighed in: “Living there does not make someone a local.” Two-time world champion Tom Carroll wrote, “Nicely handled Lennix. He barely made it to his feet.”
But the strangest part came later.
In an update shared by The Lago Report, Smith said Indonesian police removed the surfer from his boat and brought him to Smith’s villa. Officers reportedly offered Smith two choices: accept a written apology, or pursue a case that could see the man detained and require Smith to appear in court.
Smith chose the first. According to his account, the other surfer signed a statement acknowledging his conduct, along with paperwork warning that another complaint could result in detention.
Still, Smith claimed there was no spoken apology. Instead, the man wanted the original video removed and threatened a defamation claim. Smith refused.
So the confrontation ended not with a handshake, but a police-mediated paperwork exercise. Even in a part of the world where localism can get ugly, that’s a strange ending.
Related: Massive 16-Foot Crocodile Killed After Stalking Surfers at World-Famous Wave
Original Post from this site