Pilot Alleging ‘Torture’ at Airport Is Arraigned

A Riverside County pilot who flew over former President Reagan’s Bel-Air Estates home last month and who says he was “tortured” by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy after landing was arraigned Tuesday on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

Doug Davis, 43, of Rubidoux appeared briefly before Harbor Municipal Judge Selim S. Franklin, who ordered him to return to court March 2 for a pretrial conference. Scott D. Raphael, Davis’ attorney and also vice president of the Orange County Airport Assn., said outside the court in Newport Beach on Tuesday that he believes his client will never go to trial because the deputy, whom he identified as Charles Shinn, has a “history of harassment at the airport.”

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard Olson said he could not comment on Tuesday’s hearing. However, he has said previously that Davis refused to cooperate when the deputy searched him for a weapon and that the deputy had to put a wristlock on him to control him.

Davis was ordered to land at John Wayne Airport on Dec. 28 after he and an aerial mapping photographer flew over the Reagan home. That airspace was restricted whenever then-President Reagan was in residence. However, Davis said he received no notice that day about such restrictions.

Davis said that although he was unaware why U.S. Secret Service agents had asked him to land at John Wayne, he complied. He says he did not resist the deputy who handcuffed his arms behind him on the airfield. On Jan. 5, Davis filed a claim--a legal precursor to a civil lawsuit--seeking $1 million from the county, Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates and Gates’ department. Davis alleges he suffered torn right shoulder muscles when the deputy detained him.

The Secret Service has said it will not file charges against Davis because agents determined that he flew “inadvertently” through the restricted airspace.