'Racist charges'? African-American Auburn man continues legal battle against local police department

Monday was an important day in what has become an ongoing legal saga built with racial tension between Auburn's police department and one of its few African-American residents. Dalton Dyer, a 28-year-old Placer High School graduate, has been charged with three felony counts from an October 2018 incident involving two Auburn police officers. Dyer, who is African-American, claims he was beaten and tased multiple times by Auburn PD officers Joshua Eagan and Matt Nichols, who are white, during what was originally deemed a misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence arrest of Dyer's cousin, according to Dyer's attorney, Leah Ann Alcazar. After a request for additional discovery from Alcazar was granted in Monday's phone hearing with the Placer County Superior Court, the court issued a continuance for June 22. The felony charges, which include resisting an executive officer, battery with injury of a peace officer and battery with serious bodily injury, were added later after one officer reported he was injured by Dyer in a supplemental report, Alcazar said. In the midst of anti-racism protests swarming across the nation, the incident has prompted more than 20,700 signatures for a petition in support of Dyer calling for the Placer County District Attorney's office to drop the "racist charges." "The charges are outrageous," Dyer said in a news release last week. "It's a complete fabrication." The District Attorney's office said it could not comment on the facts of the case. The Auburn Journal submitted a Public Records Act request through the Auburn Police Department for reports from the night of the incident but hadn't received a response as of press time. "All of our cases have the opportunity to go in front of 12 members of our community," Chief Assistant District Attorney Dave Tellman said Tuesday. "In the course of the many court hearings, many cases resolve short of a trial, and there are times in which a vast majority are resolved by plea agreements. If the parties can't reach an agreement, then we go to trial, but what we look for in any case is justice." THE ALLEGED INCIDENT On Oct. 12, 2018, Dyer had been drinking and called a cousin for a ride home. However, Dyer's cousin had also been drinking and was pulled over and arrested on DUI charges, according to a November 2019 story from the Sacramento News and Review and corroborated by Josh Booth, the brother-in-law of Joey Montoya, who became Dyer's legal guardian during his senior year at Placer High. Booth attended the preliminary hearings where officers testified. Feeling responsible for his cousin's arrest that night, Dyer asked an officer if he could apologize to his cousin, which the officer allowed. From there, the accounts of Dyer and the officers go in different directions. Auburn Police Chief Ryan Kinnan, who was sworn in one month after the incident, said he was unaware of details of the case until recent comments surfaced on the Auburn Journal Facebook page. After researching the case, Kinnan said he can empathise with protesters voicing concerns over the Black Lives Matter movement, especially within the Auburn community. "I certainly understand the frustration from our community for not developing relationships the way we should have over the years," Kinnan said. "I'm committed to building those relationships and reputations among the community. I'm a firm believer of restoring justice and things being handled fairly, as they should." According to the Sacramento News and Review story, there is no video evidence of the incident. Kinnan said there haven't been dashboard cameras in Auburn PD vehicles for at least the last decade and there are no plans to implement them, as officers are required to wear body cameras. The two officers, however, were not wearing body cameras on the night of the incident, Kinnan said, because during the time, Auburn PD experienced faulty cameras with "poor software." Kinnan noted the officers – Eagan is still employed by Auburn PD and Nichols has since retired – were not in violation of policy for not having cameras that night and that all Auburn PD body cameras have since been upgraded and are not experiencing the same problems. Kinnan said Auburn PD has not hidden any specific evidence that would help move the case forward and noted he plans to hold his officers accountable while welcoming constructive dialogue with members of the community. "How do we do our job and do it well if parts of our community don't trust us enough to call us?" he said. DYER vs. CIF In 2008, Dyer scored a significant legal victory against the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body of high school sports in the state. Dyer transferred to Placer from Bethel High School in Vallejo before his junior year and was ruled ineligible midway through the 2008 football season for not submitting the proper "hardship" waiver showing he did not simply move to Auburn for athletically motivated purposes. The team was originally forced to forfeit victories and was bumped from the postseason. However, a judge ruled that since Dyer was in the foster care system, the CIF's bylaws violated components of Assembly Bill 490, designed to ensure that foster youth have a "meaningful opportunity" to have access to the same extracurricular activities as all other pupils. Placer's wins were reinstated and Dyer helped the Hillmen reach the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV championship game. According to an Auburn Journal story during his senior year, Dyer was removed from his aunt's home in Auburn and taken in by the Montoya family after questions arose over the apparent disappearance of Social Security death benefits from his father that Dyer was expected to receive when he turned 18. Dyer said if the Montoyas hadn't stepped up with their support, he would have had to relocate back to Alameda County, where social workers would have attempted to find a new foster home for him. That also would have meant a new school, with less than three months to go before graduation. "He's been part of our lives ever since," Joey Montoya said. "He's a huge part of my kids' lives. My daughters call him their older brother." AUBURN RALLIES FOR DYER Montoya said Dyer's case directly reflects the larger scope of protests of police brutality and social injustice involving African-Americans that have captured the attention of the country following the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. "Dalton was a victim of exactly what is being protested right now," Montoya said. "He was essentially a victim of something because of his race. "When it happens in your backyard to someone you love, it really opens your eyes to a lot of things you didn't understand were out there, or at least you hoped weren't out there." A rally was held Sunday afternoon in front of City Hall in support of Dyer, who works at The Ridge Golf Course in Auburn. An estimated 200 people, including Dyer, peacefully gathered with signs of protest ahead of Monday's hearing. With the request for additional discovery granted Monday, Dyer and his team now await the June 22 hearing. "By then, we will either have a resolution or will be setting a date for trial," Alcazar said. If convicted, Dyer could face "a significant amount of prison time," according to Alcazar. Dyer said he wouldn't take a previously offered plea deal, even if it meant no jail time. "I'm not pleading guilty to something I didn't do," Dyer said. "I'm completely innocent."