Ex-con strip club worker says he's rightful owner of 'secret' California beach with stunning views for astonishing reason
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A former strip club worker who has been living at a 'secret' California beach for years has given a bizarre reason as to why he is the rightful owner.
Ex-con Robert Simpson has based his RV at Oakland's Toll Plaza Beach ever since he stumbled on the remote spot more than three years ago. He says the length of time he's lived there means that he now technically owns the strip of sand.
Simpson says he turned his back on a lifetime of drug dealing and prison stays after being 'chosen by God' to take care of the stretch.
Colloquially known as 'Trash Beach', Simpson claims he conducts a daily beach clean, plucking garbage from the water.
He has become a permanent fixture at the site next to Interstate 80, even after a devastating fire razed his original RV to the ground and left him badly burned.
A former strip club worker who has been living at a 'secret' California beach for years is now claiming he is its rightful owner
Ex-con Robert Simpson has based his RV at Oakland's Toll Plaza Beach ever since he stumbled on the remote spot more than three years ago
However his way of life is under threat again, after city officials gave him and a dozen others living at the beach two weeks' notice to vacate.
'Who's going to walk the beach every day and clean up the debris?' Simpson told SF Standard. 'All I know is, it ain't up to me anymore.'
Each day, Simpson wakes up to the kind of sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge which usually only prime real estate costing millions of dollars could secure.
The 400 foot beach also boasts a vista out of Mount Tamalpais, Angel Island and the Tiburon Peninsula on the skyline.
When he isn't relaxing in his backyard tiki bar or playing volleyball on his homemade court, Simpson says he helps broken down motorists or hands out refreshments to kite surfers.
Living at the beach has given him a sense of purpose, Simpson said.
However, the San Francisco Boardsailing Association disagrees and claims that Simpson's habitation is spoiling one of the best secret spots' for kiteboarding in the Bay Area.
'The site has been under some duress the last few years,' a statement from the group reads.
But the San Francisco Boardsailing Association say Simpson's encampment is damaging the environment
City officials have given Simpson and others living at the beach two weeks to vacate from June 26
'What started during the pandemic as one camper parked by the beach has mushroomed into a full-blown encampment, an unsafe situation for sailors, and and an environmental problem for the San Francisco Bay.
'The large encampment has created an epicenter for car break-ins while increased trash and direct sewage runoff have been flowing directly into the waters there.'
Oakland's Public Works Department appears to agree and on June 26 an eviction order was issued to Simpson and the dozen other individuals living at the beach.
It is unclear if they plan to offer the residents sheltered housing elsewhere.
But Simpson is ready for a fight and says he plans to hire a lawyer to oppose the notice.
'I'll lose this all again, bro, it's nothing to me. I'll get it all back,' he said. 'My bounce-back game is so strong.'
