By Aaron Kenedi

Citing "numerous complaints" about the behavior of sheriff's deputies, Bolinas Public Utility District (BPUD) Friday called for a town meeting with the Sheriff's Office.

Prompting the call was an incident on the Fourth of July when a deputy attempted to subdue a man with pepper spray after he was injured in a fight near the Bolinas tennis courts.

Bolinas Fire Chief Kevin Hicks afterwards complained to Undersheriff Bob Doyle that the man, Ivan Scott O'Day of Fairfax, was sprayed in the face by Deputy Bob Anderson after he was already in custody.

Undersheriff Doyle this week told The Light that Anderson has acknowledged trying to use pepper spray on O'Day but that a female firefighter physically prevented him from doing so. O'Day did not appear to have the flow of nasal mucus and swollen eyes that pepper spray usually causes.

Friends of both men later told officers the second man "pounded [O'Day's] ass into the ground."

They said O'Day was knocked unconscious for at least five minutes before Bolinas firefighters arrived to perform first aid.

When Hicks arrived, however, O'Day was "unfortunately conscious," the fire chief this week told The Light. Hicks added that O'Day was delirious from his head injuries and drunkenly flailing about. It took six fire fighters to restrain him.

When Deputy Howard Horwitz arrived on the scene, firefighters turned the struggle over to him. Horwitz handcuffed O'Day and tried to walk the uncooperative man through a crowd of bystanders back to a patrolcar.

Anderson told Undersheriff Doyle that although some pepper spray was then fired, it landed harmlessly on the ground and not on O'Day. Fire Chief Hicks said he believes O'Day was hit but cannot be certain.

In any case, Anderson's intent to spray O'Day troubled Hicks, who complained to the undersheriff that the deputy's behavior toward an injured man was inappropriate.

"The man was definitely belligerent and causing problems," Hicks said. "But my feeling is that by the time Anderson got out his spray, [O'Day] was completely restrained." Hicks told the undersheriff he had no problem with any other deputy's actions.

Had Anderson sprayed a man in custody, Doyle told The Light, it would have been a violation of departmental policy and subject to disciplinary action.

But, Doyle added, "we've spoken to people who were on the scene and the deputy involved, and no one is able to verify that he sprayed the man in the face."

Also arrested at the scene was Ronald Albert Cook, 26, who came to officers' attention when he was spotted checking the door handles on Sheriff's Sgt. Rocky Martin's patrolcar. Cook was jailed on a warrant for failing to appear in court.

After several complaints, Sheriff's Lt. Dennis McQuenny on June 10 told deputies in West Marin to start making more arrests and issuing more citations rather than just issue warnings.

Since then, deputies have been writing tickets for infractions such as parking in the wrong direction on obscure roads far from downtown.

On one occasion Deputy Rich Johnson handcuffed and temporarily detained an 18-year-old boy for breaking an egg on a youngster's head. In his defense, Johnson said: "By law the egg could be considered a dangerous weapon."

After several townspeople last month complained to The Light and the Sheriff's Office about police practices they considered abusive, deputies wrote even more traffic tickets.

Undersheriff Doyle, while generally defending his officers, this week conceded they may have been too quick to issue wrong-way-parking tickets.

"People are also beginning to wonder aloud why it is that petty offenses attract so much attention while serious criminal activity appears to go unchecked."

Buchanan said BPUD has received complaints of deputies' "general rudeness" toward Bolinas residents, "the creation of traffic hazards and reckless driving by sheriff's deputies," and "outright harassment of innocent townspeople -- shining spotlights into people's houses at night [and] detaining individuals without a lawful reason."

Doyle this week said he is in favor of such a meeting and will encourage people to voice their concerns. But he cautioned: "People can't expect the sheriff's office to adopt a hands-off policy either."

Fire Chief Hicks agreed that "sheriff's deputies have rights as well," but he added: "They need to remember that they work for the citizens and should not work against them."

Hicks said that in the case of O'Day, who was violently resisting being restrained, police action was needed. "It took four or five [firefighters] just to bring him to the ground," Hicks said. "A couple of people actually refused to assist for fear of being punched.

"It's a shame that this incident had to happen at all, but especially right in front of a large crowd in which many of the people were already drunk and emotionally pumped up from recent confrontations with cops.

"Usually the deputies in the area do a good job, but there has been a fair amount of stress on everyone in recent weeks."