High school surfer William Frey told a harrowing story of being beaten to a pulp by a gang of school surf team classmates who smashed their way into his home.
The 17-year-old claimed his family home in Long Beach, Los Angeles, turned into a war zone when Owen Keller, Samuel Katz, and Joseph Ziroli stormed in April 2025.
His lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this month accused the trio of assault, battery, and emotional distress, and the school of negligence.
Not only did the three bullies viciously bash him, William claimed, they called him a ‘pedophile’ and spread video of the attack around Woodrow Wilson High School.
But what William failed to mention was that the episode was allegedly sparked by a cry for help from Owen’s 14-year-old sister.
The teenage girl, whose first name the Mail is withholding, claimed in a July 2025 restraining order application that William plied her with alcohol then ‘sexually harassed’ and inappropriately touched her.
‘[Williams] sat next to me and put his hand around me and started rubbing my body. Specifically, [he] rubbed my hip and butt and also my back,’ she claimed.
‘I froze and didn’t know what to do. I had never been in this situation before, and I was honestly very embarrassed.
‘I was also not feeling like myself because of the alcohol that [William] gave me… I was in fear of my safety.’
Woodrow Wilson High School surfer William Frey claims he was beaten to a pulp by a gang of school surf team classmates who smashed their way into his home
William, then 17, claimed he was attacked by Owen Keller (right) but left out claims by Owen’s 14-year-old sister (left) that he was sexually harassing her
The high school freshman, who was 14 at the time but 15 by the time she filed the application, also claimed he ‘prevented me from leaving his residence, making me feel falsely imprisoned’.
The girl’s disturbing account roughly follows that of William’s lawsuit, but is told from a starkly different point of view and includes details he omitted.
William presents the situation as beginning when Owen called his sister and demanded to know where she was.
‘Tell that motherf**ker that if you’re with him, I’m gonna beat the s**t out of him because I’m not f**king playing,’ Owen allegedly said.
His sister began the narrative earlier when William, whom she described as an acquaintance from school, picked her up and drove her to his home on April 17, 2025.
‘Once we arrived at his home, [William] began to pressure me to drink alcohol, specifically vodka, directly out of several large vodka bottles he had in his home,’ she claimed in the petition.
‘I expressed that I did not want to drink anymore, however, [William] and his friends chanted and made me feel like I did not have a choice.’
The teenager claimed William and his friends were not themselves drinking, but kept handing the girl and her friend vodka bottles despite their protests.
‘I started to feel funny and dizzy. I knew I was “buzzed” and eventually, I felt like the room was spinning a bit. I felt sick,’ the application read.
The teenage girl pictured with her older brother and Frey after a competition in January 2025
She walked away from the others and sat down on a couch in another room to play with William’s family cat, when he came over to her.
She claimed that she didn’t have any way of leaving William’s home, and feared if she tried to take her phone out of her back pocket, he ‘would touch me in an even more inappropriate matter’.
That’s when her brother called her, giving her an excuse to get her phone and to move away from William, she claimed.
Owen told her he saw a social media post of her at William’s house and was coming to get her, which she claimed was a relief but she was afraid of what William would do when her brother arrived.
William asked who she was talking to and she told him it was Owen, which she claimed made him ‘agitated and started to panic a little bit’.
‘He demanded that I get off the sofa and walk into his bedroom, which I had never been in,’ the girl claimed in the application.
‘I was terrified. I felt like I had to listen to him because I was intoxicated, and I was afraid of what he would do if I didn’t go with him into his room.’
William didn’t keep her in his room, however, instead ushering her through another door to the other side of the house near the kitchen.
The teenage girl claimed she told William she wanted to leave, but he pointed to a spot near the entry to the kitchen and told her to ‘stay here’.
Owen (pictured) and William were high school seniors on their school’s surf team at the time
William ‘looked very intense and panicked’ and told his friends and the girl to stay in the kitchen and not to move, the petition claimed.
The girl wrote that she could hear her brother pounding on the door demanding William let her leave, but he refused. ‘I was so afraid,’ she claimed.
William’s lawsuit claimed Owen yelled: ‘Let me in the f**king house right now William, I’m going to f**king kill you.’
Owen then went to the back door, near where the group was, and banged on it, demanding ‘give me my sister’ but was told to get off the property.
‘I wanted to go towards the door and run to my brother, but [William]’s friends were placing themselves between me and the door,’ the girl claimed.
‘I felt like they were blocking me so I wouldn’t go towards the door and [William] was staring at me. It was a very uncomfortable situation.’
She claimed she was able to make eye contact with Owen through a window in the door and repeatedly mouthed ‘help’ so he would know she needed saving.
‘At that point, it was clear to me that I was in a dangerous situation… I was terrified. I remember feeling like my face was warm and hoping they’d just open the door so I could walk out,’ she claimed.
William left the kitchen and hid somewhere else in the house, while Owen yelled through the door, ‘This is disgusting she’s only 14’, the petition claimed.
William’s friends eventually unlocked the door and the 14-year-old ran outside.
William with his parents Celinda Bradley and his late grandfather Chris Bradley
The girl’s restraining order application claimed she later learned William ‘has a reputation for being inappropriate with other young women’.
‘This is not the first time he has attempted to behave inappropriately towards a young woman who he has provided alcohol to,’ she claimed to have heard.
‘I have learned that he intentionally pursues freshman girls, and I feel as though [William] was intentional in his decision to get me intoxicated and take advantage of me during a time when I could not consent to his physical touch, or potential sexual advances.
‘[William] kept me from leaving his house that day, despite knowing that I wanted to leave and despite knowing that I was afraid.’
She concluded her application by admitting ‘my behavior was irresponsible in many ways on that night’ but was traumatised by William’s actions.
‘I also feel as though I was intentionally backed into a corner by [William] for the sole purpose of being taken advantage of,’ she claimed.
The court issued the restraining order against William a day after it was filed, and was later extended until a hearing on August 13 last year – after which there were no more entries in the court docket.
William’s lawsuit continues from when he left the kitchen and the girl escaped, but it was unclear if she was present or aware of what allegedly happened.
The girl claimed in a July 2025 restraining order application that William plied her with alcohol then ‘sexually harassed’ and inappropriately touched her
He claimed Owen returned with Samuel and Joseph and broke in through the back door that Owen had already damaged.
The trio shouted ‘we’re going to ruin your life’ and ”f it doesn’t happen here he’s gonna get it regardless, we’ll just beat the s**t out of him at school’ as they searched for him, according to the lawsuit.
William claimed he hid in the garage but the boys broke in and Owen and Samuel beat him while Owen told Joseph to ‘record this s**t’.
‘Owen Keller and Samuel Katz descended upon Frey, who was cowering in a corner, punching him repeatedly in the head and kicking him while he was on the ground in a defenseless position,’ the lawsuit claimed.
‘Witnesses estimated each attacker struck Frey approximately 15 to 20 times.
‘Frey attempted to protect himself by covering his head with his arms but was unable to escape the sustained assault. The assault ended only when bystanders physically pulled the attackers off.’
William then ran down the street with the trio in hot pursuit, until he escaped to a neighbor’s yard.
The teenager eventually made it back home after suffering red bruises across his back and two one-inch cuts and swelling to his head, according to the lawsuit.
The injuries William allegedly suffered during the beating
Owen and his associates caused more than $5,000 in damage, including a broken TV, to William’s home, according to the lawsuit.
Long Beach Police investigated and gave all three boys citations for vandalism and aggravated trespass, plus a battery citation for Samuel.
Owen was accused in the lawsuit of continuing to threaten William after the attack, including texting him: ‘You got more to come.’
The lawsuit claimed footage of the attack was posted on the surf team’s Snapchat channel and also ‘circulated among the broader school community’.
William’s lawsuit accused his classmates of calling him a pedophile, but made no mention of the claims of sexual harassment in the girl’s restraining order and his alleged reputation of sleezing onto freshman girls.
He instead called the pedophile claim a ‘false rumor’ based on ‘moral and sexual judgment about his perceived friendship with a 15-year-old female student’.
‘This sexualized labeling, combined with the distribution of the assault video through social media, the accompanying death threats, and the ongoing social ostracism within the school community, constitutes harassment on the basis of sex.’
William’s mom, Celinda Bradley, told Wilson Woodrow High principal Rebecca Caverly that Owen was still making threats five days after the attack, even sharing evidence of his threats with her.
That allegedly included audio of him saying: ‘We’ll just get you at school.’
The girl’s disturbing account roughly follows that of William’s lawsuit, but is told from a starkly different point of view and includes details he omitted
Both Caverly and assistant principal Keith Roberson were named defendants in the lawsuit.
Roberson was accused of telling Bradley that he could not intervene as the assault occurred off campus, according to the complaint.
William was granted a temporary restraining order against his three alleged attackers by the Los Angeles Superior Court on April 25, 2025, but he allegedly continued to be harassed by classmates.
Though despite that restraining order all of the students were allowed to participate in surf class, meaning the Long Beach Unified School district ‘failed to implement any meaningful measures to enforce them,’ the lawsuit claims.
The temporary orders were eventually dismissed.
On May 5, an anonymous death threat was allegedly submitted through the school’s official ‘Say Something’ reporting application, reading: ‘I’m going to kill William Frey,’ per the complaint.
The threat prompted the school to put together a ‘safety plan’ for William to arrive 10 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early each day.
William is claimed to have ‘isolated himself socially’ and ‘suffered severe mental health consequences’ from the ordeal.
Owen, Samuel, and Joseph were free to continue attending all classes and participate in surf team activities, meaning he felt ‘unable to safely attend these same events’, the lawsuit claimed.
Owen’s parents Allison and Michael Keller were also named in the lawsuit, which claimed they were liable for not reining in their son.
Owen’s parents Allison (pictured together) and Michael Keller were also named in the lawsuit, which claimed they were liable for not reining in their son
The lawsuit quoted texts from Allison Keller to Bradley it claimed made it clear she was aware of the assault and property damage.
‘I’m so sorry about all of this and I wanted to see how Will is doing. I’m free today if you want to talk. Please let me know what we can do to repair any damage to your doors,’ she wrote, according to the lawsuit.
Samuel’s parents, Autumn and Daniel Katz, we named in the lawsuit for the same reason.
William has since relocated from Long Beach and is attending university in a new city.
Long Beach Unified School District told the Daily Mail it ‘takes allegations involving student safety and student well-being seriously.’
‘Given pending litigation and confidential student matters, the District has nothing further to add.’
When contacted by The Daily Mail, Owen Keller declined to comment and Samuel Katz didn’t respond.
Requests for comment from Wilson High principal Rebecca Caverly and assistant principal Keith Roberson were also not immediately returned.
None of the defendants have filed a response to William’s lawsuit so far.
