Pilot Will Seek $1 Million in Incident With Deputy

A private pilot who claims that an Orange County sheriff’s deputy “tortured” and injured him at John Wayne Airport after he flew over President Reagan’s home will seek more than $1 million in damages from the county, the pilot’s attorney said Thursday.

“This man’s civil rights were violated,” said Scott D. Raphael, attorney for pilot Doug Davis of Riverside County. “Unreasonable force was used by a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department when no crime was committed and no civil regulation was violated.”

Raphael, of Newport Beach, said he will file a claim for Davis with the County Board of Supervisors within 4 days.

Davis was ordered to land at the airport after flying over Reagan’s Bel-Air home Dec. 28. Low flights are prohibited in the airspace over Reagan’s home when he is there, which he was over the holidays.

Davis, 43--who was flying a photographer taking pictures of the area for maps--said Thursday that he never received notice from airport towers or other Federal Aviation Administration outlets that the Bel-Air area was restricted, and that he immediately landed at John Wayne when ordered to do so.

Davis said county sheriff’s officials detained him after he landed. One of those officials, a deputy, “put my hands behind my back, handcuffed me and then raised my hands up until I was screaming in pain for about 5 minutes,” he said. Davis added that he never resisted the officers nor was verbally abusive. “I still don’t know why that deputy tortured me,” Davis said Thursday.

Lt. Richard J. Olson, spokesman for the County Sheriff’s Department, has previously said that Davis was not cooperating with a deputy who was searching him to see whether he was carrying a weapon.

Olson, in a statement last week, said a deputy put a “wristlock” on the pilot but did not mistreat him.

On Thursday, Olson declined to comment further, noting that claims against the county are handled by another branch of county government. As before, Olson would not identify the deputy involved.

“All we have right now is an unsubstantiated allegation against him,” he said.

But Raphael said several witnesses have been found who saw the incident.

The attorney said Davis’ claim against the county will seek $15,000 for medical expenses and $1 million for general and economic damages. Claims against a government agency must be filed first with the agency before a lawsuit may be initiated in a civil court.

Raphael is himself a pilot and vice president of the Orange County Airport Assn., an organization of small-plane pilots and companies doing business with plane owners. He said Davis may also file a claim against the FAA.

Fred O’Donnell, Los Angeles-based spokesman for the FAA, said Thursday that the agency is investigating the incident. O’Donnell said he could not comment on the case other than to say that a “notice to airmen about the restricted area was posted, and it is always a pilot’s responsibility to determine where restricted areas are.”

The Secret Service has said it does not plan to charge Davis with any violation. Secret Service agents questioned Davis at John Wayne Airport on the day sheriff’s deputies detained him.

Davis said that after being questioned he was taken by ambulance to College Hospital Costa Mesa for treatment of torn muscles in his right shoulder from the deputy’s handling.

A hospital spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that Davis had been given emergency treatment at the hospital but declined, citing privacy, to reveal specifics of the treatment.

“I can confirm that Mr. Davis was brought by ambulance to our hospital on Dec. 28 about 3:30 p.m.,” said Jennifer Williams, the spokeswoman.

Davis has said that he has been forced to keep an arm in a sling since the incident and that his work as a pilot and private businessman have been jeopardized.

Davis, who has been a pilot for about 20 years, lives in Rubidoux in Riverside County.