A bitter dispute between the Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians in Warner Springs and a company that operates a military training facility on the North County reservation has spilled into court.
The Eagle Rock Training Center, which leased land on the reservation for the training facility that also serves as a set for Hollywood film crews, filed a lawsuit Sept. 15 after the tribe attempted to evict the business, according to documents filed in federal court.
The training center operators claim the tribe is trying to renege on their 25-year lease agreement.
Officials with the training center also allege that the dispute contributed to a hostile environment that led to the burning of a guard shack on July 21. The fire burned about 22 square miles of wildland before firefighters were able to stop it.
Two tribal members, Jeremy Ortiz, 23, and Jesse Durbin, 23, were charged in August with setting the fire. Both men pleaded not guilty.
After the tribe gave the training center an eviction notice June 16, Eagle Rock officials said in court documents that they attempted to negotiate with the tribe to clarify the lease agreement. But tribal officials "failed to negotiate in good faith," according to the lawsuit.
"Members of Los Coyotes even threatened to take matters into their own hands if ERTC did not vacate the property ---- tragically, such threats came to fruition when the tribe allowed certain tribal members to take matters into their own hands by pouring gasoline on ERTC's security booth and lighting it on fire, and destroying new surveillance cameras that were installed after the fire," according to court documents.
Sean Roach, Eagle Rock's chief executive officer, could not be reached for comment.
Mark Radoff, an attorney for Los Coyotes, said Friday that the tribe can't be sued because of sovereign immunity and that there was no lease agreement because it was never approved by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"It is our position that for the lease to be valid, it has to be approved by the bureau," Radoff said.
The tribe's members also have to vote to approve a waiver of sovereign immunity, Radoff said. He said the tribe believes that the court does not have jurisdiction over the matter and that the case belongs in tribal court.
Eagle Rock officials say in their lawsuit that the lease agreement includes a waiver of sovereign immunity signed by the tribe's then-chairwoman, Francine Kupsch.
However, the tribe argues that the document had a space for a "tribal stamp and assembly/council ratification" but there is no stamp on the document.
Eagle Rock officials say in court documents that the tribe told them "it has no such stamp and council ratification had already been given" because the tribal council had voted and approved the lease.
The lawsuit comes amid renewed efforts by the tribe to build a $160 million casino in Barstow, halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The project, which has been in the works for nearly a decade, appeared to be dead three years ago. That is when the federal government denied an application to take a plot of land in Barstow into trust, which would make it part of the tribe's reservation, in order to build the casino.
Last year, the project got a second wind when the U.S. Department of Interior allowed an appeal to proceed.
To get the land transfer, Los Coyotes must prove, in part, that its reservation is unsuitable for business purposes. Critics of the casino project say the Eagle Rock lease agreement makes that argument less believable.
According to the lawsuit, Eagle Rock agreed to pay the tribe 10 percent of its profits, and build a new tribal hall and a children's playground, among other things.
Overall, the company has spent about $450,000 on rent payments and improvements to the children's park and training facilities, according to court documents.
Eagle Rock is asking the court to declare the lease agreement valid and to award the company compensatory damages, but does not give a specific amount.
In January, the tribe's leadership changed. Kupsch was replaced by Chairman Shane Chapparosa.
Radoff said there may have been a change in the tribe's plans when the new chairman came into office, but he declined to discuss "internal tribal deliberations."
Eagle Rock officials say they believed the tribe had approved the lease because the company had not been told otherwise, according to the lawsuit. Representatives of the company attended a tribal council meeting in January to discuss the children's park and gave members of the tribal council tours of the leased property in March.
On June 16, the company was told to leave the property, according to court documents.
"Without any prior discussion, warning or justification, Los Coyotes' attorney, Mark Radoff, sent a letter to ERTC claiming, for the first time, that the lease was invalid and that ERTC was trespassing on reservation land. The letter purported to require ERTC to vacate the property by July 16, 2011, and threatened to eject ERTC for trespass after that date," according to the lawsuit.
The tribe agreed to allow Eagle Rock to host a training session last month, and the company is being allowed to access the property, Radoff said.
A court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28.