Ex-con says he’s rightful owner of ‘secret’ California beach with multi-million-dollar views because he’s been squatting there for 3 years
Life’s a beach for this jailbird squatter.
An ex-convict strip club worker says he’s the rightful owner of a little-known California beach with multi-million-dollar views because he’s been squatting there for years — even though city officials want him to ship out.
Robert Simpson, who was sent to prison on drug-related charges, has been living in an RV on Toll Plaza Beach in Oakland for more than three years — which he claims gives him a legal right to the sandy strip of land, according to the San Francisco Standard.
“I wake up and see the Golden Gate Bridge,” Simpson bragged to the outlet. “There’s people who pay millions of dollars for a view not nearly as bomb as this one.”
Simpson’s junk-littered paradise is outfitted with a volleyball court, kayak storage and a tiki bar with a “hot tub.” It boasts stunning views of Mount Tamalpais, Angel Island and the Marin Headlands.
However, city officials are fighting to force the lucky beach bum to leave. Oakland’s Public Works Department gave him and a dozen other people living illegally on the beach two weeks’ notice to move their encampments, according to the outlet.
“The Public Works Department has deemed this site uninhabitable,” the notice reads. “All persons are directed to vacate this site and remove any personal belongings.”
But Simpson has lawyered up and says he won’t be put out to sea.
He plans to fight the eviction by claiming a legal right to the property after being parked there for more than three years.
“I’ll get it all back,” he said. “My bounce-back game is so strong.”
California law allows squatters to gain “adverse possession” of land owned by someone else by “openly and continuously” occupying the property for as little as 30 days.
Simpson got the boot from the city after the San Francisco Boardsailing Association complained that his encampment and others had degraded the beach.
The group says the shoreline is “one of the best secret spots” for kiteboarding in the Bay Area.
“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,” the association’s website states.
In April, Simpson lost his RV to a fire but managed to replace it using settlement money he received from a car crash that left him with a brain injury.
Simpson, who lives with his ailing 70-year-old father, said he walks the 400-foot beach daily and cleans up trash that washes up.
“Who’s going to walk the beach every day and clean up the debris?” he asked.
His lawyer didn’t return a request for comment.
