On a January evening in 2023, the sun had already set behind Half Moon Bay when lifeguards Maxwell Hunter and Riley Rhodes got the call. The current had sucked a man 300 yards off Poplar Beach.

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A small airplane lands on Poplar Beach in Half Moon Bay after it was stolen from the Palo Alto Airport on Feb. 8, 2024. Courtesy San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. The man accused of stealing a ...