Hollister
– A retired Monterey Sheriff’s deputy facing nearly two decades
in prison on felony gun charges pleaded
”
no contest
”
to a lesser charge Wednesday as part of a plea deal that will
keep him out of jail.
Hollister – A retired Monterey Sheriff’s deputy facing nearly two decades in prison on felony gun charges pleaded “no contest” to a lesser charge Wednesday as part of a plea deal that will keep him out of jail.
Hilton Dyar, 64, of Seaside had been charged with felony assault with a firearm and exhibiting a firearm in November after being arrested for allegedly pointing a loaded handgun at a female driver in a fit of road rage. District Attorney John Sarsfield dismissed the two felony charges after Dyar agreed to plea guilty to a single count of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor. Sarsfield had previously told the Free Lance that he would not let Dyar enter into a plea bargain, and had used the case as the first example of his since-failed “zero-tolerance” policy prohibiting plea deals in gun cases.
Dyar had maintained his innocence, alleging that the accusations were based on racism, throughout the six-month court proceeding. He said he accepted the plea deal to save time and money.
“It’s a cruel and cold world, but life goes on,” Dyar said outside the San Benito County Courthouse Wednesday. “I have too many people depending on me to waste time and money fighting this thing. I disturbed the peace and that’s all.”
Though he avoided jail time, Dyar was sentenced to three years probation by San Benito County Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders. He will also have to pay a $900 fine and give up his right to carry a gun for the next 10 years.
Dyar, a decorated Vietnam veteran and longtime member of several Seaside charity organizations, had no prior criminal history. Dyar previously told the Free Lance he had pointed his finger at the alleged victim after she nearly hit his car.
The alleged victim, Neva Vasquez, could not be reached for comment on the plea deal Wednesday. Vasquez reported the incident to police in November. She told officers Dyar had pointed a black gun at her while driving on Highway 156 near San Juan Bautista. Police found a loaded, black H&K 9mm pistol behind the driver’s seat of Dyar’s car when they stopped him.
Vasquez was the sole witness in the case against Dyar, but her testimony came under fire after a tape of her 911 phone call was played in court. Vasquez referred to Dyar, who is black, as a “monkey” several times during the taped 911 conversation. She also told the dispatcher that “these monkeys are out of control.”
Oakland defense attorney Kurt Robinson, who represented Dyar, called the plea deal fair and said he had advised Dyar not to take the case to trial.
“I think it was a fair resolution. And I thank Mr. Sarsfield for looking at the evidence and making this offer in light of the public stance he took, especially given all the publicity this case has received,” he said after a brief conversation with Dyar outside the courthouse. “Going to trial is the same as playing roulette in Las Vegas, but you don’t always have a 50 percent chance of winning. It wasn’t worth the risk in this case.”
Robinson said in March that he thought Vasquez’s allegations against his client were “racially motivated.”
At that, Sarsfield told the Free Lance that Dyar would not get a plea deal and said, “We don’t plea gun cases. That goes for everyone.”
Sarsfield said he opted for a plea bargain after discovering “weaknesses” in the case including the issues with the witness.
“There were some issues in this case that we weren’t sure about,” he said. “We didn’t know how things would play out at trial. This was a fair resolution because (Dyar) didn’t have a criminal history and no one was hurt.”
Dyar was slated to be the first person prosecuted under the no plea bargain for gun crimes policy Sarsfield instituted last year.
“That policy is no longer in effect,” Sarsfield said, pointing to his decision to turn the criminal caseload of the district attorney’s office over to his probable successor, deputy district attorney Candice Hooper Mancino.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
