Crackdown on Amtrak Mooning in O.C.

It's something of a local tradition, but turnout for this year's "Amtrak mooning" was down. The Orange County Register has the story, "Fewer than 300 show up for annual train mooning":

Outgoing grandmas and beefed-up Harley-Davidson riders were among a few hundred people today who waved their bare derrieres to the trains roaring by the Mugs Away Saloon for the annual Mooning of Amtrak and Metrolink.

Somewhere between 8,000 to 10,000 people participated last year, when officers witnessed sex acts, urination, and defecation in public – prompting the shutdown of the event for the first time in its history.
More law enforcement this year meant fewer mooners.

Dozens of officers on foot, three-wheeled battery-powered vehicles, horseback, motorcycles, bikes, and patrol vehicles were watching nearby aiming to curb illegal behavior.

KABC-TV Los Angeles "covered" the story earlier, "Crackdown on Amtrak mooning in O.C. ":

Southern California may be known for its sunny skies, but the city of Laguna Niguel's reputation for the past three decades has revolved around the moon. Actually thousands of moons.

Each year a crush of people line up along the railroad tracks in the city and bare their backsides to every Amtrak train that passes by. But now the sun may be setting on this mooning tradition.

"Hopefully it will be a much smaller event this year," said Mayor Robert Ming, Laguna Niguel.