Pilot in Reagan Flyover Faces County Charge

A pilot who flew over former President Reagan’s Bel-Air home, and who claims that he was “tortured” by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy when he landed, now faces a charge of resisting arrest.

The pilot, Doug Davis, is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 31 in Harbor Municipal Court, said his attorney, Scott D. Raphael of Newport Beach.

Raphael called the charge “preposterous” and said he believes that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is trying to protect the deputy who detained Davis on Dec. 28.

Allegation of Protection Denied

Lt. Richard J. Olson, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, denied the allegation.

“The district attorney’s office investigated the report and took the action (filing the charge), and not the Sheriff’s Department,” he said.

Davis, 43, of Riverside County, was ordered to land at John Wayne Airport after he and an aerial mapping photographer flew over Bel-Air. That airspace was restricted whenever then-President Reagan was home, but Davis said he had received no notice about restrictions that day.

Davis said that he did not know then why he was being ordered to land at John Wayne Airport but that he complied.

He offered no resistance to an unidentified Orange County sheriff’s deputy who handcuffed his arms behind him after he landed, Davis said.

The deputy then “pushed my arms up behind my back until it was so painful I was screaming,” Davis has said. He received emergency medical treatment at College Hospital Costa Mesa. Davis said he suffered torn muscles in his right shoulder.

“I don’t know why the deputy held my arms up that way unless it was just to torture me,” he said.

Olson said the Secret Service in Los Angeles had asked the Sheriff’s Department to detain the pilot. Davis was not arrested but was told to wait until Secret Service agents arrived to question him, Olson said.

Davis refused to cooperate when a deputy searched him for a weapon, and the deputy “had to put a wristlock on him, which is normal procedure,” Olson said. He denied that Davis had been mistreated.

Raphael, however, said Tuesday that “several witnesses” at the airport have corroborated Davis’ version that he was needlessly mistreated by the deputy.

On Jan. 5, Raphael filed a $1-million damage claim against Orange County, Sheriff Brad Gates and the county Sheriff’s Department on Davis’ behalf.

The claim is the first step toward filing a civil suit for damages, Raphael said.