Drivers: Tire loss city’s fault

Newport Coast resident Meghan Marcum was driving home down East Coast Highway on a rainy night last month when she felt the front left tire of her 2003 Honda Civic give out.

When Marcum got out of her car, she discovered that her left rear tire was also flattened.

“It scared me,” Marcum said. “It was raining and cold. I was in heels, and I don’t have any family in California.”

Marcum and at least two other motorists had their tires spiked Feb. 27 by a tire-deflation device that police use to slow fleeing suspects. Marcum’s tires deflated within seconds and without a sound, she said.

The device had fallen out of a Newport Beach police officer’s Chevy Tahoe after he forgot to shut the back door, according to a police report.

Now, Marcum and at least one other driver want the city of Newport Beach to pay to replace their tires.

Marcum is asking for $221 to cover the cost of repairs and having her vehicle towed, according to a claim she filed against the city.

Newport Beach resident Don Lockman also has filed a claim for $870 after the spiked strip took out both tires on the driver’s side of his 2001 Jaguar, according to his claim.

Similar “Stop Stick” devices use hollow, Teflon-coated quills to pierce and quickly deflate tires, according to StopTech Ltd., a company that has supplied the Police Department with its equipment in the past.

The quills “act as valves, releasing air at a safe, controlled rate” to prevent dangerous blowouts, according to the StopTech website.

Officer A. Yim was on his way to help another officer during a traffic stop at East Coast Highway and Newport Coast Drive on Feb. 27 when the mishap occurred, according to a police report attached to Lockman’s claim.

Yim had just checked out the police Chevy Tahoe he was driving, and forgot to close the rear door before leaving the police station, according to the report.

The police officer did not realize anything was amiss until he got to Marguerite Avenue and East Coast Highway, according to the report.

“...A citizen flagged me down and advised that the door was open and something had fallen out about half a mile back,” Yim wrote.

Retracing his steps, Yim found the tire-deflating device from his police vehicle lying in one of the eastbound lanes of East Coast Highway at Avocado Avenue, according to the police report.

Yim helped a couple change a flat tire at the scene after they ran over the spiked device, while another police officer helped Lockman, according to the police report. He also called a tow truck for Marcum and gave her a ride home, she said.

Lockman could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Newport Beach is still looking into Marcum and Lockman’s claims, and city officials cannot comment until the matter is resolved, Newport Beach spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said Tuesday.