Crime & Safety
La Jolla Man Pleads Guilty To Kicking Sea Lion At La Jolla Cove
The 18-year-old admitted to repeatedly kicking the animal in a July incident captured on video and widely circulated online.
LA JOLLA, CA — A La Jolla man pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act after a viral video showed him repeatedly kicking a sea lion at La Jolla Cove.
Tyler Muehl, 18, admitted that he approached the sea lion late in the evening on July 22 as it sat on a sea wall near Ellen Browning Scripps Park, according to his plea agreement.
Muehl kicked at the animal four times, making contact. He twice kicked at the animal's face, causing the sea lion to recoil. When it tried to flee, Muehl chased it and kicked at it twice more before the animal escaped over the wall and reached the beach, prosecutors said.
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Muehl also agreed the video was an accurate recording of the incident.
"Federal crime. Federal consequences," U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement.
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The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassment of marine mammals. Muehl faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration investigated the case.
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