San Clemente Officer Held in Rape, Assaults

A San Clemente police officer was arrested and charged Thursday with raping one woman and assaulting two others, once while he was on duty and in uniform, district attorney officials said.

David Wayne Bryan, 32, surrendered to authorities at the South Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel. His bail was set at $50,000.

Bryan has been on paid leave since January, when the San Clemente Police Department and the district attorney’s office began investigating a 21-year-old woman’s complaint that she was a victim of “date rape” by Bryan.

The other two women came forward after reading a newspaper article about the investigation, San Clemente Police Chief Albert C. Ehlow said.

Authorities say they have no reason to believe that the alleged attacks are related to attacks by a serial rapist that have alarmed the city in recent months.

“Everybody is shocked,” Ehlow said. “When you are a department our size, you are like family. . . . We are just kind of numb right now.”

Ehlow said the recent public attention being focused on police brutality cases, most notably the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King by Los Angeles police, makes it more difficult for police departments to deal with issues such as Bryan’s arrest.

“I think because of the Rodney King incident, any police department in the nation is going to have people looking at them more than they ever had,” Ehlow said. “Of course, this (Bryan’s arrest) does not help in that area.”

Police and district attorney’s officials declined to release a photograph of Bryan. Ehlow has scheduled a press conference to discuss the arrest at 10 a.m. today.

A veteran of almost four years in the San Clemente department, Bryan is charged with nine felony counts and four misdemeanors. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in state prison.

Bryan’s arraignment is set for April 17, and the public defender’s office was appointed to represent him.

Bryan, who is separated from his wife, lives in San Clemente. All three of the victims in the complaint against him were San Clemente residents at the time of the alleged assaults.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jan C. Sturla, head of the prosecution’s sexual assault unit, said Thursday that all three victims were acquaintances of Bryan. But the prosecutor declined to say whether Bryan had in any way used his authority as a police officer in any of the incidents.

“In one of the incidents, Bryan was in uniform and on duty,” Sturla said. He would not elaborate.

But Chief Ehlow said that in that incident, Bryan “went over to the individual’s residence while on duty, but I don’t think it had anything to do with a call or any official business.”

Prosecutors allege that Bryan attacked one woman on Jan. 27, 1991, and another two days later. They would state only that the third woman was attacked “between January through February, 1989.”

In the Jan. 29, 1991, incident, Bryan is charged with three counts of forcible rape and one count of forcible oral copulation. In the Jan. 27, 1991, incident, he is charged with four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery.

It is the 1989 incident in which Bryan is alleged to have attacked the woman while on duty. He is charged in that instance with two counts of sexual battery by restraint, one count of assault and battery by a police officer (which states that “under color of authority, he did assault and beat” the victim), one count of assault with intent to commit rape, and one count of burglary.

Sturla said he could not disclose what time of day that incident occurred nor the circumstances surrounding the burglary charge. But Ehlow said Bryan was assigned to morning watch at the time.

Sturla would not say whether Bryan had discussed the allegations with authorities.

“I can only say that when he found out about the charges, he voluntarily agreed to turn himself in at the courthouse,” Sturla said.

Ehlow described Bryan as well-liked by the officers who worked with him.

“I like him,” the chief added.

Sturla and Ehlow said the investigation did not uncover additional victims, “but if there is anyone out there who hears about this and has any information that would be helpful, we would appreciate hearing from them,” Sturla said.

Bryan was chosen from a training academy in April, 1987, to be a reservist. He became a full-time officer on June 1, 1987.

Ehlow said he will forward a copy of the criminal complaint to the San Clemente city attorney for recommendation on further disciplinary action. Bryan could be fired or suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case.

The chief said that when he discussed the Bryan arrest with his police officers, he warned them that citizens would have questions about the charges. Ehlow said he advised the officers to “be polite and answer the questions to the best of their ability.”

Ehlow said the last serious arrests at the department were at least 25 years ago, when a reservist was indicted in a sexual assault and another was indicted in a burglary.

City Councilwoman Candace Haggard said the case “needs to be dealt with and looked into in an appropriate manner. . . . “I am really proud of our city for doing that.”