Reagan Library Aide Accused of Vandalism

The chief fund-raising executive for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum was issued a misdemeanor vandalism citation this week for allegedly removing part of a fence in a property dispute with a neighbor, authorities said.

Mark Burson, 44, was given the citation Tuesday at the request of William Watt, the neighbor whose property connects with the backyard of Burson’s Westlake Village home, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

At Burson’s request, a second misdemeanor battery citation was issued to Mark Zegar, who is Watt’s attorney. Burson contends Zegar, also of Westlake Village, punched him in the chest during an argument over the exact location of Burson’s property line.

“The incident is in dispute and still under investigation because we have differing accounts of what happened and we need to sort it out,” said Eric Nishimoto, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Detectives will forward their findings to the district attorney’s office for review, Nishimoto said. As of Thursday evening, neither Burson nor Zegar had been formally charged with a crime.

According to a 20-page report by deputies who responded, the incident began about 9 a.m. Tuesday when Watt, 59, saw Burson removing sections of a wrought-iron fence shared by Watt, Burson and a third neighbor, James Landon.

Watt immediately called his attorney, who reported the incident to authorities by calling the Sheriff’s Department nonemergency phone line. Zegar then drove to Watt’s home, according to the report.

Zegar, 48, told deputies he asked Burson to leave his client’s property and then extended his foot when Burson lifted a section of fencing and appeared to be coming toward him.

Zegar maintains Burson walked into his foot and fell to the ground, Nishimoto said.

But Burson told deputies he introduced himself to Zegar and then offered a handshake but Zegar refused. Burson said Zegar then punched him in the chest with a fist as Burson bent down to pick up a piece of fencing, Nishimoto said.

Burson said the impact of the punch caused him to fall to the ground and injure himself. He was transported by ambulance to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where he was treated and released.

Nishimoto said Burson was examined for back and leg pain related to a fall.

Because it wasn’t reported as an emergency, deputies arrived shortly before 11 a.m. to take a report. When they reached the scene, near Oak Place Drive and Larkfield Avenue, they found Burson on the ground, Nishimoto said.

Zegar was cited at the scene and Burson was cited at the hospital. In addition to Watt’s request for the citation, Landon, the other neighbor who shares the fence, also asked that Burson be given a vandalism ticket.

Statements from two witnesses, a neighbor and one of the workers hired by Burson to help move the fence support both sides of the story, Nishimoto said.

Burson, whose official title is executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, was attending a formal dinner at the museum Thursday night with former First Lady Nancy Reagan and could not be reached for comment.

He has worked for the foundation, the major fund-raising arm of the library and museum, for about two years.