$3 Million Asked : Officers Sued Over Scuffle 2 Years Ago

Four Newport Beach police officers are in federal court this week facing allegations by a dentist that he suffered brain damage in a barroom scuffle with the officers two years ago.

Dr. Robert Michael Heath of North Dakota sued the city for $3 million in damages, claiming he “suffered severe emotional and economic harm.”

Heath’s lawsuit, filed in March, 1984, names reserve Police Officers Douglas Cast and Joseph Brown and full-time Officers Pete Perrin and Robert Hardy.

Earlier this week, Heath’s attorneys told the six-member Los Angeles federal court jury that Heath suffered brain damage during a fight with the officers in the Stag Bar on McFadden Place in Newport Beach.

The officers arrived at the bar to arrest Heath’s brother, Larry Heath, because he reportedly was intoxicated. They subsequently arrested Robert Heath because he was in “a violent frenzy,” according to court records.

Assault charges filed by the city against Robert Heath were later ordered dropped by a Municipal Court judge, according to court records.

Thomas Feeley, an attorney representing the City of Newport Beach, said during a courtroom interview: “Heath interfered with the arrest of his brother. The Police Department contends the officers used only reasonable force.”

Feeley said that Heath does not deserve damages for loss of employment because he stopped working as a dentist in North Dakota about a year before the barroom fight.

Heath and his attorney, Marion Yagman, declined to discuss the case.