How To Get Your Car And Boards Stolen In Affluent Newport Beach

Newport Beach is a peculiar spot. Comfortably nudged between San Diego and the City of Angels, take a step behind the Orange Curtain and find a place with burnished sands, a rich beach culture, remarkably fun waves and a touch of seediness.

A beautiful coastal juxtaposition. Probably the only place in the world where two hole-in-the-walls like Super Pollo and Tiki Bar can exist on the same street as the Volcom and Hurley world headquarters. And with the Wedge just a 10 minute (19 with traffic) drive away, no less. But it isn’t all just wrought iron gates and roses. 

“I live in Newport, it’s a pretty private area,” Andrew Doheny tells Stab. “It’s the last place you think you’d get robbed. But you get robbed all the time – a year ago I got burglarised in my room. I went to sleep on my couch and I had my wallet and laptop on the table next to me, and I woke up and they were gone. My door was open and all this shit was everywhere. Burglarised, the works. I’ve had numerous bikes, boards and everything else stolen from here.”

Droid’s latest edit, get reacquainted.

Droid is one of Stab’s favourite Newport regular-footers. A man who owns one of the most unusual frontside, drop-knee jams around. But late last week, Droid woke up without a car. Concerning, to say the least. We inquired:

“I was packing for a surfer shaper contest in Encinitas on Saturday morning,” Droid continues. “So Friday night I emptied my car and threw all my boards in there for the contest. Being a surfer shaper contest you have to ride a board that you shape, y’know?”

At this point, it must be said that yeah, it’s hard to be sympathetic for a pro surfer getting surfboards stolen when he was given them for free by a board company. First, you should know that a LOT of pros still pay for boards. And second, that isn’t the case here; Droid spent hours hand-shaping most of the stolen boards.

“I grabbed like three of my special hand shapes that I was going to ride in the contest and threw those in the car. And I also had this really good Mayhem board and two of my nice warm full suits for the winter. My passport was in there as well. It was packed for the contest and who knows what after that.

Here’s what to look for if searching for Droid’s missing car packed with boards.

“Anyways; woke up, shaved, walked out of the house and there was no car in the driveway. I was obviously just like, ‘What the fuck?’ I couldn’t really believe it at first, but… then I had to believe it.”

Everyone gets something lifted every now and then – an inescapable evil through life. But, a car?

“It just sucks,” Droid goes on. “I had these really cool boards that I shaped with neat artwork that I spent a lot of time on. Sentimental to me, you know? And I just got a new wetsuit so it’s all a bit of a bummer. I was just really excited to surf, but couldn’t do it after that.

“I don’t have that many boards since I started shaping. And I don’t have a board sponsor or anything, so I only have a total of 10 boards, five of those I ride. And now four of them are gone so I’m left with what I have.”

So is Newport just a glistening harbour-front facade, then?

“There’s Newport Heights and the rich parts of Newport that are the snobby, shitty parts,” says Droid. “And here by the beach, it’s a lot of rental houses and being by the beach you have a combination of a lot of different people coming in and out. I think that has something to do with why we get robbed so much. We’re pretty welcoming here, but the word gets out and people see it as an easy target. ‘Come to the Doheny’s and rob their car, laptops, and surfboards.’ I hate robbers, they suck.”

Let’s get Droid’s car back. And, opt for tucking those car keys into your wetsuit rather than leaving them in the wheel. And keep your head on a swivel next time you’re in Newport Beach.

“Throw in a reward,” Droid concludes. “Whoever finds the boards can keep ‘em! I’d just be happy to know I got them back.”