A Canyon Landowner Digs Himself Into Jail

A Topanga Canyon landowner who allegedly bulldozed an ancient Indian village site and dumped the dirt into Topanga Creek was arrested Tuesday after an archeologist threw himself on the front of earthmoving equipment.

Developer Arnold Carlson, 62, was jailed for six hours after a confrontation with officers from two state agencies and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at a three-acre construction site in the heart of the rustic canyon.

The arrest followed unsuccessful efforts by state and local officials to halt the grading--and the unusual intervention by an archeologist, who leaped onto a skiploader’s blade to halt the digging.

Carlson’s son, canyon resident Steve Carlson, vowed that he and his father would resume work at the site in the 100 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard today, despite threats of further arrests, confiscation of earth-moving equipment and legal action.

“We were just doing a little exploratory digging for soils tests,” said Steve Carlson, 34. “It’s being done with private equipment on private property. We haven’t done anything wrong.”

Authorities disagreed, however. “There’s no question this is a violation,” said Jim Griffith, chief ranger for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and one of the lawmen who assisted with Carlson’s arrest.

The dispute has been simmering since Friday, when Arnold Carlson, a Los Angeles resident, reportedly began digging on a lot he owns across the street from a small shopping center in Topanga. Residents said he hauled the dirt across the boulevard to a lot his son owns and dumped it at the edge of Topanga Creek.

Complaints of Neighbors

Angry canyon dwellers complained to county building and safety officials and to the state’s Coastal Commission, which has jurisdiction over construction projects in the mountain area.

Both agencies ordered Carlson to halt work at the site Monday until proper county and state permits were obtained, said Steven H. Kaufmann, a deputy state attorney general who was seeking a temporary restraining order Tuesday to halt further work.

When work resumed Tuesday, Topanga residents called deputies, rangers and fish-and-game agents.

Game Warden John Hernandez was the first officer to arrive. Carlson ignored his demands to halt the work, state Department of Fish and Game officials said.

“The man did not respond to the siren or to shouts,” said Pat Moore, a spokesman for the agency. “Then he wouldn’t sign the citation. He was placing dirt in the stream in such a way that, when it rains, it will cause siltation downstream.”

The misdemeanor arrest, for illegally altering the stream, brought scattered cheers from onlookers, who said they had watched the work glumly for three days.

“We’ve been getting lots of calls on the council hot line about this,” said one of them, Topanga Town Council president Jan Moore. “Mr. Carlson has no permits, but he just insists on doing it. His equipment should be impounded.”

Archeologist Chester King, who lives near the construction site, charged that Carlson’s excavation has destroyed an unknown quantity of Indian artifacts from an ancient encampment.

King, 45, said he jumped onto the earthmover’s blade in frustration when its operator refused to stop digging.

“I held onto his blade, and they jerked me around,” King said. “I eventually got him to stop for a minute. He knew I was emotionally involved. I told him people in Topanga would boycott him if he builds stores there.”

Steve Carlson said he and his father have no specific development planned for the site.

$250 Bail

“People there don’t want anything done, no matter what,” Carlson said while waiting to bail out his father at the Malibu sheriff’s station. Bail was $250.

He denied that the site contains buried Indian artifacts. “It’s an engine burial ground, not Indian. We call it the Pontiac engine grounds. We’ve pulled out valve stems, air filters, piston heads.”

Carlson also denied that his father refused to obtain permits for the work. “At this stage in the game, he doesn’t believe he’s done anything that needs a permit,” he said.

Nevertheless, the amount of grading that has already occurred is sufficient to require county and state permits, mountain ranger Griffith said.

“If there’s any more grading, I’ll impound the equipment,” Griffith said.