Battle Between O.C. Media Rivals Escalates : Newspapers: The Newport News publisher files a police complaint accusing the Daily Pilot of defrauding advertisers.

A battle between the Daily Pilot community newspaper and the Newport News, a weekly upstart in Newport Beach, has turned bitter as the publisher of the News has gone beyond a pending lawsuit to file a complaint with police.

L. Kay Schrock asserts in her citizen’s statement, as the Costa Mesa Police Department refers to it, that the Pilot defrauded advertisers by overstating circulation by as much as 33%. She contends that the Pilot certified for four consecutive weeks that it printed 45,000 copies of its newspaper when only 30,000 copies were printed.

The complaint, filed with police late Friday, also alleges that the Pilot dumped 15,000 copies of advertising supplements into outdoor trash bins at its Costa Mesa headquarters because the print runs were short.

Jim Gressinger, the Pilot’s publisher, said he has not seen Schrock’s statement and could not comment. He did say, however, that the Pilot’s circulation is audited and that those audits show that the newspaper has a circulation of 45,000. He said paid distribution is 8,500 six days a week and that an additional 36,500 papers are printed and distributed free on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Schrock’s complaint stems from information obtained in a sworn deposition taken in a pending civil lawsuit that the Pilot filed against the Newport News in November.

According to Schrock’s statement, former Pilot distribution manager George Arauz testified in the deposition Thursday that he was forced to sign weekly press-run reports that falsified the Pilot’s distribution. He said he signed the first report under protest at the end of December and signed reports covering the next three weeks as well before he was fired, according to the statement.

In its lawsuit, the Pilot accuses the News of unfair competition. The Pilot asserts that the News was falsely telling potential advertisers in October that the News’ circulation was 50,000 and that it was distributed free to all areas of Newport Beach.