William Frey, 17, is suing the Long Beach Unified School District, alleging it failed to protect him before he was allegedly beaten by teammates Owen Keller, Samuel Katz and Joseph Ziroli in April 2025. Frey says the attack followed a dispute over his younger
For days after the alleged beating, William Frey says he didn’t just have bruises to deal with. He was stuck in a school community that kept pushing him, threatening him, and—according to his lawsuit—refusing to treat his safety as something urgent.
Now the 17-year-old surfing standout from Long Beach has filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach school district, accusing it of failing to protect him before he was allegedly attacked by two of his Wilson High School surf team teammates in April 2025.
Frey’s complaint centers on an argument that began at home, not on the waves. Frey claims he was at his family home on April 17 when Owen Keller—one of the alleged attackers—called and demanded to know where Frey’s younger sister. Ainsley. was. Keller. the lawsuit says. threatened his teammate and told someone to pass a warning along: “Tell that motherf***er that if you’re with him. I’m gonna beat the s*** out of him because I’m not f***ing playing.”.
The lawsuit also places the dispute around Ainsley’s age at the center of the allegations. The report notes that some accounts suggested Ainsley was 15 at the time of the incident, while the Daily Mail understands she was 14.
Frey then claims Keller turned up at his home yelling: “Let me in the f***ing house right now William. I’m going to f***ing kill you.” After Keller broke the bottom window of the backdoor and an unnamed adult ordered him off the property. Keller returned about 30 minutes later with two other surf team members. Samuel Katz and Joseph Ziroli. according to the court papers.
The civil complaint alleges the trio entered through the broken back door and shouted: “We’re going to ruin your life.” Frey says he later hid in the garage after Katz allegedly kicked in the bottom panel of its door to get inside.
At that point, the lawsuit claims Keller told Ziroli to record. It then alleges Keller and Katz punched Frey in the head repeatedly and kicked him. with the pair allegedly striking him 15 to 20 times each. The complaint says bystanders pulled the attackers off him. but Frey fled down the street as the trio chased him in a white Volkswagen. before he found refuge in a neighbor’s yard.
When Frey eventually made it back home, the lawsuit says he had red bruises across his back and two one-inch cuts and swelling to his head. He also claims his home suffered more than $5,000 in damage, including a broken TV.
Even after the assault, Frey alleges the threats didn’t stop. The lawsuit says Keller continued to harass him. including through a text message that read: “You got more to come.” The complaint further says footage of the assault was posted on the surf team’s Snapchat channel and “circulated among the broader school community.”.
Frey’s mother, Celinda Bradley, told Wilson High principal Rebecca Caverly that Keller was still making threats five days after the attack. She shared evidence of the threats with the principal, the lawsuit says, including audio in which Keller allegedly said: “We’ll just get you at school.”
Along with Frey’s alleged attackers, the lawsuit names Wilson High principal Rebecca Caverly and assistant principal Keith Roberson as defendants. Frey claims Roberson told Bradley he could not intervene because the assault happened off campus.
The dispute then spilled into the school’s response.
On April 25, 2025, Frey was granted a temporary restraining order against Keller, Katz and Ziroli through LA Superior Court. But the lawsuit says students who saw Frey’s situation through a different lens kept harassing him anyway, branding him a “pedophile” because of his friendship with Ainsley.
Despite the restraining order, Frey’s lawsuit says all students were allowed to participate in surf class. It alleges the Long Beach Unified School district “failed to implement any meaningful measures to enforce” the orders, and that the temporary orders were later dismissed.
In another escalation. the complaint says that on May 5 an anonymous death threat was submitted through Wilson High School’s official “Say Something” reporting application. reading: “I’m going to kill William Frey.” The threat led the school to create a “safety plan” for Frey to arrive 10 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early each day.
The lawsuit alleges Frey “isolated himself socially” and suffered “severe mental health consequences” after what it describes as the ongoing ordeal. It also claims Keller. Katz and Ziroli were still free to continue attending all classes and participate in surf team activities. leaving Frey feeling “unable to safely attend these same events. ” according to the court filing.
Frey has since relocated from Long Beach and is attending college in a new city.
The Long Beach Unified School District, in a statement provided to the Daily Mail, said it “takes allegations involving student safety and student well-being seriously.” The district added: “Given pending litigation and confidential student matters, the District has nothing further to add.”
When contacted by the same outlet, Keller declined to comment and Samuel Katz did not respond. Requests for comment from Wilson High principal Rebecca Caverly and assistant principal Keith Roberson were also not immediately returned.
The core of Frey’s lawsuit is simple and stark: he says he was attacked by teammates, then faced continued threats and harassment, and that the district’s safeguards—beginning with how the restraining order was handled—weren’t enough to keep him safe.
William Frey Long Beach Unified School District Wilson High School surf team Owen Keller Samuel Katz Joseph Ziroli Ainsley Frey lawsuit restraining order Say Something pedophile allegation