Professional surfer Matthew “Wilko” Wilkinson, 23, of Copacabana, New South Wales, Australia, was arrested by Newport Beach police near Balboa Boulevard and 18th Street on Saturday for public intoxication, according to the NBPD.
Officers responded to a call of a male subject laying in the street in the area, said Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.
According to surfline.com, the rockstar-like Aussie surfer, who is ranked 18th in the world, decided to make Newport Beach his home for the summer.
Wilkinson has “established himself as one of the world’s most exciting young surfers, not to mention one of the ASP World Tour’s most entertaining characters,” according to ripcurl.com. Wilkinson surfs on the Ripcurl team.
Last month, he started a blog on the ASP website, which includes photos of him partying, and carries the disclaimer “Some content may only be suitable for adults.” One photo of two women kissing has the caption, “i love cali.”
Wilkinson has had success on the ASP tour, winning the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz last year to establish himself.
Welcome world to the next iteration of the surf-star burnout. Past inductees include Shane Herring, David Edgers, and a litany of other has beens, coulda beens, and shoulda-beens.
its harmless, Matt is old enough to drink in any country, i bet he is appreciative that the police let him sober up in a safe place. Matt is not on drugs or breaking the law, i bet jetjag played a part in the whole event. Throwspoop suits you cos you sound like a little baby hasbeen yourself, Herro is still ripping like a legend in Byron Bay. Who hasnt had a few to many and needed to stop for a little kippa along the way, unfortunate for Matt is the media get a hold of it and blow it our of proportion. Grow up you haters its not primary school its the real world