MALIBU — An 18-year-old Malibu man who made headlines for being the youngest person to climb the highest peak on all seven continents will be charged with an infraction for surfing up Pacific Coast Highway on top of a BMW sedan on the way to school Wednesday.
“I guess I was being stupid,” Johnny Strange said as he was confronted by traffic officers in a hallway at Malibu High School Wednesday, said Los Angeles sheriff’s Sgt. Phillip Brooks.
Strange made headlines last summer when he climbed Mt. Everest and then Australia’s Mt. Kosciuszko, ending his quest for the seven-continent climbing record.
A passenger aboard a bus took photos of Strange standing atop a BMW crossover sedan cruising west on PCH through Malibu, Brooks said. The photos showed a teenager climbing out the passenger window and standing on the car as it moved with other traffic, in a 50 mile per hour zone.
One photo showed him kneeling on the roof of the moving car, his arms outstretched sideways. The bus passenger e-mailed them to the sheriff’s department, which has a program of sending deputies to talk to youthful drivers who are observed driving unsafely, and their parents.
Deputies went to Malibu High School and spotted the BMW. As they were talking to school officials, the BMW’s female driver and Strange walked up to them in a hallway, Brooks said.
Riding outside a car is an infraction, and the District Attorney’s Office was being consulted by sheriff’s deputies to see if any charges can be filed.
The girl is 17, and will probably be cited for reckless driving and violating her provisional drivers license, which does not allow her to carry a passenger — inside or outside her car, said Brooks.
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