BREA / YORBA LINDA : Mechanic Sues Cities, Detectives, Car Dealer

An auto mechanic has filed a lawsuit against the cities of Brea and Yorba Linda, alleging that two plainclothes detectives chased him in an unmarked car and then improperly told his employer that he was being cited for speeding.

Also named in the lawsuit are Canyon Acura, which fired mechanic Stephen R. Clark as a result of the information police provided, and the two detectives, David Jones and David Coovert.

Last April, Clark, who was the foreman of Canyon Acura’s service department, was test-driving a 1991 Acura NSX after repairs.

After pulling out onto La Palma Avenue, Clark said, he noticed a car following him.

When the driver of the car began gesturing at him to pull over, Clark said, he thought the passengers were angry with him for cutting them off.

“I was scared,” Clark said. “I thought they were real ticked off and wanted to” beat him up.

Clark said he tried to elude the car by speeding through a commercial park and a residential neighborhood off La Palma Avenue. When he noticed the car wasn’t following him anymore, Clark said, he went back to Canyon Acura, where the plainclothes officers and several uniformed officers were waiting for him.

“I told them I didn’t know they were cops,” Clark said. “But one of the (detectives) asked one of the (uniformed officers) for his ticket book and wrote me a ticket.”

Clark said he was cited for speeding and for unsafe lane changes. One of the detectives then told his boss about the citation, and Clark was told to go home and was fired three days later.

Clark contends that the California Vehicle Code requires police officers involved in traffic enforcement to be in uniform and driving a marked patrol car or motorcycle.

Exceptions are made for pursuing stolen vehicles, but the NSX had not been reported stolen, Clark said.

Andrew Arczynski, assistant city attorney for Brea, said that plainclothes officers in unmarked cars do not generally get involved in traffic enforcement. He would not comment on why Coovert and Jones were trying to get Clark to pull over or why they initiated the pursuit.

“I am not at liberty to discuss their thoughts,” Arczynski said. “It is probably fairly unusual to (initiate a pursuit) in an unmarked car.”

Coovert and Jones were not available for comment.

Brea police are responsible for patrolling Yorba Linda.

The citation against Clark was dropped when the two plainclothes officers failed to appear at his hearing.

Clark’s lawsuit claims that both the police and his former employer violated the Labor Code.

He argues that the code prohibits police officers from telling an employer about an arrest or detention that did not result in a conviction.

Employers are similarly prohibited from using such information to fire an employee, according to Clark’s lawsuit.

But Bruce Myers, Canyon Acura’s service manager, said he fired Clark because of a confrontation with police that occurred after the car chase.

“There were cops here for an hour and 15 minutes,” Myers said. “We had (police) cars all over the place. Our driveway was blocked, and our customers were asking us what was going on.”

Myers said he had no choice but to recommend to the general manager that Clark be fired.

“Any time you have a situation that involves how we look, we have to act on that,” Myers said.