Nine Nude Hippies Arrested; Found Huddled Around Bonfire
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.
April 23, 1968.
Nine hippies were arrested and five others were released after they were found sprawled nude around a bonfire near their disabled bus above Little Sycamore Canyon in the Bass Rock area, sheriff’s deputies said.
Deputies said they found the group of hippies Sunday night after spotting their bus stuck in a deep ditch along Deer creek Mountain Road, just above Bass Rock, located about five miles south of Point Muga.
The 1952 bus had been reported stolen in San Francisco April 12, according to deputies. One of the hippies, identified as Mary Brunner, of Topanga Canyon, was booked on suspicion of endangering the life and health of a child, after deputies said they found her week old son, Steven (Michael Brunner), improperly dressed and shivering in the near freezing temperatures.
Miss Brunner claimed she delivered the child on the floor of a home with the help of a friend.
The infant was placed in protective custody of Ventura County General Hospital where his condition today was reported satisfactory.
The alleged driver of the bus, Charles Manson, 34, whose address was unknown, was booked on suspicion of grand theft auto and having two driver licenses in his possession.
Three others, Brenda McCann (Nancy Pitman), 18, Ella Sinder (Ella Jo Bailey), 23, and Mark Damion, 21 , all of Topanga Canyon, were jailed on a charge of disorderly conduct and not having proper identification.
Booked on a charge of possessing fictitious and fraudulent prepared driver licenses were Sadie Glutz (Susan Atkins), of Los Angeles; Diana Bluestein (Dianne Lake), 20, of Malibu, Susan Scott (aka Stephanie Rowe), 23, and Bruce Van Hall (Bruce Hall), 22, both of Hollywood.
Deputies said the group was apparently driving back into the canyon when the bus became stuck in the deep ditch along the roadway about a quarter-mile east of Highway 1.