An altercation broke out Sunday afternoon on the beaches of Malibu when a large group of surfers near Paradise Cove attacked the approximately 12 paparazzi that were taking pictures of actor Matthew McConaughey.

A 29-year-old photojournalist, resident of Santa Monica, told the sheriff’s deputies that the surfers approached him and other paparazzi around 2 p.m. demanding that they stop filming and taking pictures.

Things escalated into a brutal and physical situation, one of the photographers receiving a hit in the face that resulted in a broken nose, while another was thrown against some rocks and had his camera destroyed. The surfers had reportedly been drinking beer throughout the day.

Some celebrity websites posted videos that supposedly were taken when the scene occurred.

The videos show McConaughey at least 100 feet away, paddling into the surf, as about a dozen photographers on the beach shoot pictures. About 15 young men, some apparently drinking beer, walk up the beach toward the paparazzi, and one of the photographers says, "This looks nasty."

A man in a bathing suit points to the actor and his friends surfing and furiously tells the paparazzi, "They don't want you here! And nobody that lives here wants you here." One of the surfers offered the photographers a thousand bucks if they left that moment.

The video shows the photographers saying they were just doing their jobs and that they are on public property. As both sides proliferated obscenities and threats, the video on the Web site shows most of the photographers making a run for it from the men in swimsuits. Only one paparazzo that remained was chased down by two men, grabbed and thrown into the rocks, apparently wrecking one of the cameras he carried with him. Videos stop at this point.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said that detectives with the Sheriff’s Department’s Lost Hills Station were investigating the incident. He also said that those who taped the brawl were expected to turn in the videos to the authorities. Although police said a report was filed no arrests have been made.