Homeless Man Dies After Fall from Cliffs

By Lookout Staff

July 5 -- A homeless man fell to his death early Saturday morning from the cliffs above Pacific Coast Highway, police said.

The body of the man -- whose identity has not been released pending notification of his next of kin -- was found at 7:22 a.m. on the 1200 block of PCH by police who responded to the scene.

Witnesses said they the saw the man, a Hispanic in his 30s, fall from the bluff area just above the roadway, police said.

The subject, who sustained injuries in the fall, was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.

The death comes a little more than one year after the City Council voted in May 2003 to prohibit “humans” on the steep cliffs of Palisades Park, where the homeless have been known to camp out.

The council adopted the ordinance based on staff analysis that deemed the bluffs “an inherently unsafe place for humans” because natural hazards, such as steepness and geology, make it prone to slides and slippage, and the dense brush can create a fire risk, especially during gusting winds.

In an effort to keep people off the bluff -- which is about one-and-a-half miles long and varies in height from 50 to 180 feet -- the City had installed fencing and warning signs along the western edge of Palisades Park, according to staff.

But people still climbed down the bluffs, risking falling and creating slides, as well as endangering those below on PCH and the emergency personnel who can’t easily reach them because of the steep incline.