Complaint filed against Costa Mesa Police

Deirdre Newman

A local artist who has been decorating the outside walls of a

Diedrich coffee house in Costa Mesa filed a complaint against the

Costa Mesa Police Department on Wednesday, saying officers treated

him brutally when they arrested him on Labor Day.

Aloysious Dougherty III, 39, of Costa Mesa, was placed under

citizen’s arrest by the store’s manager Monday on suspicion of

vandalism and trespassing. He later was charged with resisting an

officer after police arrived at the coffee house at 474 E. 17th St.

Dougherty filed the complaint Wednesday, claiming the arresting

officers were aggressive and treated him so roughly that he had to go

to the hospital afterward. He also contends the officers never told

him he was under arrest or read him his rights.

He is asking that two of the officers -- Dan Miles and Cameron

Phillips -- be removed from the force “before they seriously injure

someone,” according to his complaint.

Lt. Dale Birney of the Costa Mesa Police Department said he could

not comment on the complaint except to say that it will be

investigated.

Also at issue is whether or not Dougherty ever received permission

to write on Diedrich’s walls.

He says he did, from Martin Diedrich, the son of the founder of

the company who sits on the board of directors.

But Diedrich President Phil Hirsch refuted Dougherty’s claim. He

said Diedrich never gave Dougherty permission to “grafitti-ize” the

building and didn’t have the authority to do so anyway since he does

not manage the coffee house.

“I think what Martin was relaying to him was he understood the

need for people to express themselves,” Hirsch said.

Dougherty admits he has been using the walls at Diedrich’s as a

canvas for his “positive” chalk art expressions -- like “Worry is

thinking about the future negatively” -- since the beginning of the

year without permission. But he contends he finally got the green

light over Labor Day weekend from Diedrich.

“[Diedrich] said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll talk to the [employees]. Just

go ahead and keep doing your thing,’” Dougherty said.

But Hirsch said Dougherty had been told many times to stop writing

on the walls.

On Labor Day, shortly after Dougherty arrived to get some coffee,

manager Shelly Hughes started scrubbing off his writings, Dougherty

said.

When he told her he had authorization, she said that Diedrich did

not own the property and asked Dougherty to leave, he said.

When he refused, she called the police, he said.

Hughes declined to comment on the incident except to say that

Diedrich never said anything to her about Dougherty’s writings.

Soon, about six policemen arrived and acted aggressively from the

get-go, Dougherty said. Laura Grierson, a longtime Diedrich’s

customer, echoed Dougherty’s account.

“[Dougherty] was very calm considering the situation,” Grierson

said. “He was not yelling, not getting in anyone’s face. The police

were instantly hostile to [Dougherty] as soon as they arrived, like

he was in the wrong. They would not listen to what he was saying,

they didn’t care.”

Hirsch refuted their claims, defending Hughes’ actions.

“My understanding is that as [Hughes] was cleaning up his

graffiti, [Dougherty] came by and went ballistic,” Hirsch said.

“[Dougherty] started yelling and swearing and causing a disturbance

and she felt compelled to call for the police.”

When Dougherty refused to follow the policemen’s instructions to

sit down, they allegedly grabbed his right shoulder, yanked his right

arm, slammed him against a car and shoved him to the hot pavement,

according to his complaint.

Grierson again confirmed Dougherty’s account that the police acted

violently.

“I saw [Dougherty] being held down by three police officers, who

were holding his face down to the hot pavement and struggling with

him, hitting his head into the ground and holding his face and neck

into the ground,” Grierson said. “He was bleeding, he was screaming,

it was horrible.”

Grierson said she didn’t see Dougherty doing anything to provoke

the officers.

After Dougherty was taken away from the scene -- still not having

been told he was under arrest, he claims -- he was taken to Hoag

Hospital to treat the injuries he suffered, including scrapes on his

wrist, knuckles, head and rib cage.

Dougherty said the officers and the bailiff continued verbally

harassing him at the jail.

Grierson said she was so shaken up by what she witnessed that she

filed a report to be included in the official police report. She said

she also will write a letter to the company expressing her disdain

for the way the situation was handled.

And she will not be a regular at Diedrich’s anymore, she said.

“I think the management has not handled this appropriately,”

Grierson said. “It caused a lot of stress for me. I feel it’s a

hostile environment for me ... It’s not easy for me to say, but I

won’t go back at this point. My conscience won’t allow me to.”

Hirsch said the company handled the situation appropriately

considering Dougherty’s flagrant refusal to stop his graffiti.

“We have a responsibility to protect our customers and the

property we are renting,” Hirsch said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.