Threats on sheriff result in arrest

Deepa Bharath

A former Newport Harbor High student critically injured in a

traffic accident on Irvine Avenue five years ago was arrested Sunday

on suspicion of threatening to kill Orange County Sheriff Mike

Carona, officials said Wednesday.

Twenty-three-year-old Daniel Townsend was 18 when a Chevy Blazer

loaded with 10 teens overturned on Irvine Avenue. Townsend and

popular cheerleader Amanda Arthur, then 17, suffered brain injuries

and were in critical condition after the accident, which killed their

friend Donny Bridgman, 18.

On Sunday, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Townsend for

allegedly telling two of his friends that he was going to kill

Carona, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s

Department.

He said police were tipped off after getting a complaint on Friday

that Townsend had threatened to kill a friend’s mother. They

responded soon after the threat had been made.

“When we went to that house in Santa Ana Heights, [Townsend]

wasn’t there,” Amormino said.

Later, police heard that Townsend had called two of his friends

and told them he was going to kill Sheriff Carona, Amormino said.

When deputies went to Townsend’s Ralcam Place home in Costa Mesa

on Sunday, they found a newspaper article in which he had drawn a

bull’s eye on Carona’s head, Amormino said. The photo ran with an

article about a news conference Carona gave in connection with the

arrests of the sons of a woman who allegedly cut off the head and

hands of their mother and threw her body into a ravine, he said.

Amormino said Townsend had scrawled out “I’ll serve this up to you

too” on top of the article, referring to the decapitated woman.

Townsend faces three counts of making a criminal threat and one

misdemeanor count of interfering with an officer’s duties -- one he

racked up when he tore his booking form as he tried to snatch it from

the officer’s hand, Amormino said. Townsend has pleaded not guilty to

all charges and is being held in Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana

without bail. He is scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing Feb.

13.

Townsend’s mother, Diana Townsend, said her son is ill and needs

medical attention.

“My son is not a criminal,” she said. “He has never been a

criminal. He has a mental illness.”

She said her son was in the hospital for a year and a half after

the traumatic car accident. He was in a coma for a little over a week

and, as a result of his brain injuries, had to relearn everything

from walking and talking to feeding himself. He also suffered other

internal injuries -- a ruptured liver and collapsed lung, Townsend

said.

“I’m not justifying his actions,” she said. “But Danny never

really recovered from his injuries. He still goes to a psychiatrist,

but has a difficult time with his meds. That’s probably why it all

blew up.”

Townsend said she hopes Carona will understand “Danny’s condition

and his needs” and be “fair and just” in dealing with her son.

Amormino said the Sheriff’s department takes threats “very

seriously.”

“We will certainly have him evaluated,” he said. “But his mental

illness doesn’t diminish the threat at all. He threatened both a

public official and private citizen.”

Amanda Arthur, who woke up after spending 4 1/2 months in a coma

and is still feeling the effects of her brain injuries from the

crash, said she is “sorry to hear about Danny.”

Her mother, Chris Maese, said she is “surprised.”

“I don’t know what has gotten him to this point,” she said. “But I

hope and pray he’s going to be OK.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].