Proper Force Is Claimed in Coma Case Arrest

Two Huntington Beach police officers involved in the arrest of a man now lying comatose in a hospital have said they used no more force in taking him into custody than was justified by the circumstances, an investigator said Thursday.

Loren Duchesne, chief investigator for the Orange County district attorney’s office, said that Officers Dan Johnson and Heather Dreyer “claim the force was reasonable to overcome the subject’s resistance.”

Mark Kevin Ross, 23, was arrested Saturday morning after he and his brother were stopped by police at Newland Street and Ellis Avenue. Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade said that Johnson and Dreyer had found several outstanding traffic warrants against Ross and that he resisted being taken into custody.

Hours later, Ross was having trouble breathing at the city jail and was taken to Pacifica Community Hospital. He was on life-support systems Thursday and termed in critical and guarded condition.

The district attorney’s office is investigating.

There were at least two witnesses to the arrest, investigators said. Two Huntington Beach residents told investigators Wednesday night that they observed the incident from a passing car. They could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Friends and relatives have said that Ross, a free-lance artist and musician, was beaten by the two officers who arrested him.

“There are no external injuries that would explain his present condition,” Duchesne said, adding that the possibility of a drug overdose is being investigated. Family members have said they don’t believe that Ross was using drugs.

Wade said that force was used during the apprehension of Ross and that Ross was struck on the arms with a police baton before he was taken to the jail. Wade said he did not know if officers or a nurse that is assigned to screen arrestees at the jail asked Ross if he needed medical attention. But he said Ross did not indicate that he needed treatment.

“The jailers, making routine rounds, found him . . . not breathing and in need of respiration,” Duchesne said. He said Ross was unconscious but had a heartbeat. “That’s very clear. He was in trouble.”

Paramedics were summoned, and a doctor at the hospital said Ross had suffered a severe cardiac arrest that caused him to stop breathing, halting the flow of oxygen to his brain.

Johnson and Dreyer were placed on a two-day administrative leave and then had two scheduled days off, police sources said.