Kevin Reed, now known as Kevin Callahan, was one of surfing’s pioneers. Now, he’s been arrested on suspicion of murder. Images: Surfing Magazine/Santa Cruz Sentinel
Back in the ’70s, a Santa Cruz surfer named Kevin Reed was turning heads. He landed the cover of a 1975 issue of Surfing Magazine, and he’s credited with being the first person to do aerials. Now, he’s accused of murder.
“Kevin Reed was a great… really, really good skateboarder,” said Jay Adams in The Westsiders film. “He was a really great surf skater. In the beginning with the urethane wheels and stuff, Kevin was one of the leaders. He was just a really good skater–and he could surf. A lot of the guys in the beginning back then… skateboarders were surfers, and Kevin was definitely one of the better ones.”
On Saturday night, a fight broke out near the volleyball courts at Main Beach in Santa Cruz. It ended with one man dead, 52-year-old Steven Lee. Kevin Reed, now known as Kevin Callahan, was arrested a few hours later after police found him asleep on the beach near Lee’s body. He’s being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, bail is set at $750,000.
Lee was found just after 4 a.m. Although the cause of death wasn’t immediately apparent and there were no obvious signs of trauma, police arrested Callahan because it was alleged that he and Lee had argued earlier.
Callahan was a staple of Santa Cruz surfing in the ’70s but has since fallen on hard times. The seawall at Beach Avenue had become home for both the victim and the accused. “He was the first guy to do the aerials,” Bob Pearson of Pearson Surfboards told the Sentinel. “That’s a fact, and he did it five years before anybody else.”
According to Pearson, Callahan has been struggling with substance abuse issues and hasn’t been surfing for years. “I’ve been trying to work with Flea and a lot of other guys, trying to straighten him out. It’s been difficult,” Pearson continued.
Kevin Reed,1974, at the Lane. Photo: Tom Sutherland, courtesy of Matt Warshaw
Matt Warshaw competed against him in better times for Callahan. “Underground legend, big-time. Quiet guy,” Warshaw wrote in an email. “Wore booties, no matter the water temperature; booties and I think a fullsuit as well. It was weird seeing him somewhere like Trestles in summer in that get-up. And yes, he had airs down better and earlier than anybody else. Not so much that famous Surfing cover shot, which an aerial, just a cool flying kickout. But yes, he could do these sort of Ollie airs all day long, no problem. Decent landing percentage too. Way ahead of his time. The other thing, and I thought this was fucking awesome, was that Kevin rode all-black surfboards. Just looked so cool, so punk, before punk was even a thing in surfing.”
Callahan was visited by Pearson and his daughter just a few days prior to his arrest. Pearson was struck by the change in the former world-class surfer. “Some people, you drive by homeless — you hear it a bunch of times: Don’t judge the people, you don’t know who he is, who she is, where they’re from, what happened to them and what’s going on in their life,” Pearson said to The Sentinel. “I’m sure he has been judged wrong by a lot, a lot of people. It’s unfortunate, some people just fall through the cracks.”
UPDATED: Officials have cleared Kevin Callahan of all charges and released him from custody.
