Daniel Mortensen

A member of the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency’s board of directors was arrested Sunday on suspicion of spousal assault.

Newhall resident Daniel Mortensen, 52, was arrested at his home in the 23300 block of Haskell Vista Lane after deputies responded for a disturbance call at 8:30 p.m.

“Deputies contacted several people and the investigation revealed that during an argument, the suspect, Daniel Mortensen, assaulted the victim, causing a visible injury,” said Lt. Ignacio Somoano of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Franklin Lopez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said no ambulances had been called to the scene and no one had been transported to the hospital.

Mortensen was transported to the SCV Sheriff’s Station on suspicion of spousal assault. His bail was set at $50,000 and he was released Tuesday on his own recognizance, according to Sheriff’s Department bail information.

Mortensen said on Friday that he had not yet hired a criminal defense attorney, but asked people to remind themselves of the presumption of innocence.

“We have a system in this country that has a presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” said Mortensen. “And I would appreciate it very much if people would take that presumption very literally.”

“I would say don’t think that this couldn’t happen to you,” Mortensen added. “My reputation is my reputation and I don’t think there is anyone out there that thinks ill of me.”

Mortensen has served on the SCV Water board since it was formed in January 2018. Before, he was a member of the Newhall County Water District board and was first elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2015.

He is presently the Finance and Administration Committee chair for SCV Water and his term is set to expire in January 2023.

SCV Water declined to comment Friday.

Bio from SCV Water

Daniel R. Mortensen was elected to the Board of Directors of the Newhall County Water District in 2007 and ran unopposed in the 2011 election. He served as Vice President in 2009 and Board President in 2011. Mr. Mortensen received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and a post‐doctoral degree (an LL.M. in Taxation) from the New York University School of Law (NYU). Mr. Mortensen is the principal attorney at Mortensen Law, Tax, Trust and Probate Attorneys, P.C., a four attorney Newhall based law firm located at 22807 Lyons Avenue, Newhall, CA 91321. The firm practices in the areas of taxation, estate planning, probate, trust and estate litigation, and related business and real property transactions. Of the over 225,000 members of the State Bar of California, he is one of approximately 400 attorneys board certified by the State Bar of California as a specialist in Tax Law. He is currently the only board certified tax attorney in the Santa Clarita Valley and has practiced solely in the areas of tax law, estate planning and post‐death administration for seventeen years. Mr. Mortensen’s public speaking experience includes two years teaching the estate planning and advanced estate planning courses for the University of California, Santa Barbara’s certified financial planner program. He lives in Newhall with his wife and three children.