Court agrees to drop last charge against Dyer, pending completion of 1-year diversion program

This story was updated at 6:50 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. The last remaining charge against Dalton Dyer – resisting and obstructing a police officer – will be dropped on the condition he completes a one-year diversion period, according to an agreement reached Tuesday. Dyer's attorney, Dave Wiksell, said in an email to the Auburn Journal on Wednesday he met with Deputy District Attorney Amy Bellah before a hearing Tuesday that was "set for a motion to suppress evidence in order to argue that Mr. Dyer's detention and arrest were unlawful." Wiksell and Bellah met with Judge Mark Curry, who Wiksell said "decided to enter into an agreement with Mr. Dyer to dismiss the remaining charge of resisting and obstructing a police officer." Wiksell went on to say "Judge (Curry) told Mr. Dyer that he would set a court date out one year, and as long as Mr. Dyer remained out of trouble, the entire case would be dismissed. In addition, the arrest shall be deemed to have never occurred." Bellah, in a statement, described the agreement as a "one-year pre-trial diversion program on the remaining charge" and confirmed, "If Mr. Dyer successfully completes the one-year diversion period, including the terms the Court imposed, then the Court will then dismiss the remaining charge." Bellah added that Dyer pled no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence and was sentenced to credit for time served and three years of informal probation. Dyer, a former Auburn resident and Placer High School star athlete, was charged with three felonies following an incident with two Auburn Police officers in October 2018. The felony charges – resisting an executive officer, battery with injury to a peace officer and battery with serious bodily injury – were dismissed in October 2020, leaving the one misdemeanor charge. Dyer told the Auburn Journal late Wednesday afternoon he's "thankful," saying, "I'm just happy it's done. Which is awesome, which is great. I just want to thank everybody who came out to show support - at the protest, at court, all the families every time." Said Wiksell, "This truly was the best possible outcome. I am hopeful that Mr. Dyer is able to successfully move on with his life and gain some much-needed closure." Dyer, who is African American, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his cousin when they were pulled over by Auburn Police Officers Joshua Eagan and Matt Nichols, who are white, around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 12, 2018, according to a Sacramento News & Review story published Nov. 14, 2019. Dyer's cousin was arrested for driving under the influence. After allowing Dyer to apologize to his cousin for the DUI arrest, Eagan testified Dyer's cousin and Dyer "were getting amped up and excited about the situation," according to the News & Review. Nichols' report said Dyer resisted arrest (for public intoxication). The felony charges were added after a supplemental report in which one officer claimed he was injured by Dyer during the incident. Dyer, however, claims he was beaten and tased multiple times. His supporters accused the officers of racial profiling and police harassment, nearly 200 people attended a community rally for Dyer at Auburn City Hall in June 2020, and an online petition to have the felonies dropped grew to more than 30,000. Neither officer was wearing a body camera, and they were not found to be in violation of Auburn PD policy. After the felony charges were dropped in October, Dyer maintained his innocence and desire to go to trial. "I've always wanted to go to trial," he told the Auburn Journal in October. "There was no camera footage. If there was footage, we wouldn't have had to wait two years. I had to push it." Dyer maintained his belief Wednesday, saying, "It was different for me. I wanted to get accountability. There's always going to be that bias. We should have had cameras. We should have been on top of that. We just need that part of accountability, because who's to say those officers won't do that again, and it won't be worse. We have to do better than that. … With cameras, there is no more what the officers say, what I say. It's the truth." Auburn Police Chief Ryan Kinnan was sworn in one month after the incident and said after researching the case he could empathize 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 in an interview with the Journal last June . "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." Auburn Journal staff writer Nick Pecoraro contributed to this story.