Morro Bay Surf Clash Case Takes a Two-Year Mental Health Diversion Path
Andrew Eric Gustafson received two years in a mental health program after a surfer testified he held her underwater. A trial now depends on his completion.
The next decisive test in the Morro Bay surf-clash case will come through treatment compliance, not a trial. Andrew Eric Gustafson, charged after an Aug. 23, 2025, altercation with surfer Haylee Red-Van Rooyen, has been granted the maximum two-year term in a mental health diversion program. If he completes it successfully, the case will not proceed to trial.
That outcome puts sustained participation at the center of a case built around sharply different stages of review. Gustafson pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. One count alleged force likely to produce great bodily injury. The court found the charges met the criteria for a trial, but a different judge later approved diversion, citing Gustafson’s mental health diagnoses, lack of a criminal record and assessed risk of violence.
Red-Van Rooyen’s account of the encounter
At a January hearing, Red-Van Rooyen testified that Gustafson collided with her in the water, pursued her, climbed onto her surfboard and forced her head underwater. She described the incident as a moment when she feared she would not survive.
“I thought I was going to die,” she testified. “He grabbed my hair and held me underwater, and I didn’t know if I was going to make it.”
Red-Van Rooyen also said Gustafson repeatedly directed vulgar insults at her during the encounter. Her account provides the most detailed description in the available reporting of what she says happened in the water. Gustafson pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been tested at trial.
Related: Watch: Viral Surf Fight in Indonesia Takes Bizarre Turn After Police Get Involved (Video)
The basis for diversion
Gustafson was first arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but prosecutors did not ultimately file that charge. Judge Swysen described him as a “low-moderate risk for violence.” The ruling also relied on documented diagnoses of persistent depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, alongside his lack of a prior criminal record.
Mental health diversion gives eligible defendants a treatment path that can keep a case from reaching trial if they complete the program. Here, the order sets a two-year window, the maximum period allowed. Gustafson must attend weekly therapy and may receive psychiatric medication as part of his plan.
The treatment schedule is a point of dispute. Gustafson had previously attended therapy twice a week and has since reduced that to once weekly. Deputy District Attorney Ashley L. Cervera reportedly called the current plan “inadequate.” That criticism makes the program’s practical demands especially relevant: the order calls for continued treatment, while monthly compliance hearings will give the court recurring opportunities to review whether he is meeting its conditions.
Conditions and what comes next
Gustafson must remain at least 50 yards from Red-Van Rooyen under a stay-away order. He is also required to attend monthly compliance hearings. His first treatment compliance review is scheduled for Dec. 17.
Those requirements create a clear sequence. Gustafson must follow the treatment plan and meet the program’s conditions across the full two years. Successful completion would end the possibility of a trial in this case, while restitution to Red-Van Rooyen remains required; the amount has not yet been determined.
For Red-Van Rooyen, the diversion ruling does not erase the account she gave at the hearing or resolve the allegations through a trial. For Gustafson, it places the case’s outcome on sustained treatment and compliance. He declined to comment to The San Luis Obispo Tribune after the hearing.
Related: Olympian Alan Cleland Jr. Suspended Again Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
The immediate marker is the Dec. 17 review. After that, monthly hearings and the two-year treatment term will determine whether the case stays on its diversion track or returns to the prospect of trial.
