Dias appears in court on misdemeanor charges
San Juan Bautista mayor George Dias appeared in court this week
on charges of causing bodily harm to an officer, a misdemeanor.
Dias was arrested at the scene of a trailer fire April 14,
2007.
Dias appears in court on misdemeanor charges
San Juan Bautista mayor George Dias appeared in court this week on charges of causing bodily harm to an officer, a misdemeanor.
Dias was arrested at the scene of a trailer fire April 14, 2007.
During an alleged altercation between Dias and Deputy Jason Leist, Leist fell into some bushes and was cut by the branches, according to documents from the sheriff’s department.
Leist received five stitches on his lower left ear and three stitches on the left side of his face.
Although the incident was never reported, Dias’ father, George Dias Sr., also is alleged to have assaulted an officer at the scene of the fire.
Leist attempted to clear bystanders from the scene of the fire, said Doug Dahmen, a detective for the San Benito County sheriff’s department, during his testimony.
Leist repeatedly requested that Dias move, Dahmen said.
After being warned that he would be under arrest if he did not move, Leist attempted to arrest Dias, Dahmen said.
“At that point, you could see that Dias was resisting Officer Leist,” Dahmen said.
Dahmen tried to help Leist arrest Dias, when he felt somebody grab him from behind.
Dias’ father, Dias Sr., grabbed Dahmen, Dahmen said. Reserve Deputy John Klauer pulled Dias Sr. off Dahmen.
“I was going to arrest Mr. Dias’ dad for obstruction as well,” Dahmen said.
Dahmen and Dias Sr. “hashed” things out during a conversation at the scene, Dahmen said.
The crowd moved closer to the officers during the alleged altercation between Leist and Dias, Klauer said during his testimony.
Klauer did not feel that it would be appropriate to arrest another individual when the crowd was closing in, Klauer said.
“You had half that were pro the sheriff’s department and half that were pro Mr. Dias,” Klauer said.
Dahmen or Klauer could have written a report about the incident and submitted it to District Attorney Candace Hooper for possible prosecution, Klauer said.
Neither wrote a report, according to their testimony.
Dias’ lawyer, Attorney Lawrence Biegel, asked Klauer if he was aware of a dispute between members of San Juan’s city council and deputies from the sheriff’s department over response times to San Juan Bautista.
Klauer was not aware of a dispute, he said.
Jan McClintock, San Juan’s city manager, does not remember if there was a dispute with deputies during April 2007.
The response time to San Juan Bautista has been an issue in the past, McClintock said.
“The sheriff has a certain number of deputies on,” McClintock said. “If those deputies are tied up, then their response time would be longer, just like any police department.”
Discussions between San Juan officials and sheriff’s department deputies regarding how to best manage the workload to maximize response times to San Juan have been ongoing, McClintock said.
“Mayor Dias has been one of the more vocal members of the council about wanting to try and change how that’s managed,” McClintock said. “So far as I know, Mayor Dias has been vocal about that since I was hired two years ago.”
McClintock does not know if the arrest was politically motivated.
“I have to leave that to his attorney and the politicians,” McClintock said.
Dias was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in 2004, according to documents from the San Juan Bautista city council.
