For years now, Grant Paul Dalton has been homeless and roaming the country, sometimes landing in pretty serious trouble with law enforcement.
But his time in Asheville almost turned deadly on Aug. 20, when Asheville police shot Dalton in the thigh after he exited a city bus, the culmination of a 90-minute standoff. The confrontation stemmed from Alcohol Beverage Control officers' attempt to serve warrants on Dalton related to July incidents in which an ABC officer was beaten and his vehicle stolen, and the earlier vandalism of an ABC vehicle.
Dalton, 35, was released from Mission Hospital Aug. 25 and taken into custody at the Buncombe County Detention Center. In the Aug. 20 incident, he was charged with communicating threats and felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official.
Dalton's next court date is Sept. 16.
Mother raises questions
Dalton's saga is a strange tale that left some in the community asking why law enforcement officers tried to arrest him on a city bus, and just how he came to be sought in the first place. The incident also raises questions about use of force in such encounters, particularly with mentally ill suspects, although Dalton did have a lock-blade knife on him and had cut his own neck while on the bus.
Among those asking questions is Dalton's mother, Sheryl Pritchard, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. In a phone interview and via email, Pritchard stressed that she is supportive of police and knows they have a hard job that often involves interactions with mentally ill and violent people.
She also acknowledged that at times "Grant is a violent person" and has struggled with mental illness. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at age 18, although his symptoms started emerging at age 13.
According to the Mayo Clinic, schizophrenia is "characterized by thoughts or experiences that seem out of touch with reality, disorganized speech or behavior, and decreased participation in daily activities. Difficulty with concentration and memory may also be present." Those with schizophrenia may experience isolation, aggression, compulsive behavior, excitability, hostility, self-harm, or lack of restraint, as well as delusions, hallucinations and hearing voices.
"He has been in jail, he has been in mental institutions — it's been devastating for us," Pritchard said, noting that her son has parents and a brother who still love him. "I don’t want to come across as if I’m complaining, because I appreciate the police and job they do. It’s tough."
But, Pritchard said, the APD's Crisis Negotiation Team contacted her while the incident was ongoing, and she apprised them of her son's mental illness and its severity.
"I asked that the police please bring to bear all their specialized training for such a situation and do their best to get Grant off the bus safely," Pritchard said, adding that she talked to an APD detective after the incident who told her multiple charges were pending against her son. "I was not there, of course, but I did see videos and live news reports of the incident and (it) was so disappointing to see that the police felt they needed to shoot Grant at close range (two shots were fired) and also use a Taser."
Citizen Times photos from the scene show Dalton with his back to the bus, a small black bag in his left hand. At one point, he is surrounded by at least 11 officers, including two with Tasers drawn, one with his gun drawn and another with a police dog between him and Dalton.
In a press release issued Aug. 20, APD spokeswoman Christina Hallingse wrote:
"For 90 minutes, officers negotiated with the man to try and keep him from hurting himself. During that time, he was stabbing himself in the neck. The man then got off the bus, and charged the officers with a knife in his hand. APD officers used their Tasers and shot the man."
Pritchard said it's difficult to tell if her son "charged" at police in news video she's watched. The detective told her the self-inflicted wound to her son's neck was the most life-threatening injury he sustained that day.
"I question why, if this injury was so severe, why was it necessary to use such force?" Pritchard wrote.
In a phone interview, she noted that her son's neck wound must have been bleeding profusely. Photos show multiple blood stains on his shirt.
"Why wouldn’t they let him just stumble off the bus or use some other means than firing two shots?" Pritchard said. "One missed — he might’ve gotten shot twice. And knowing that he has schizophrenia, I just feel like — and I am not an expert, and I don’t know the training they do or don’t receive — but it just seems to me there might’ve been a better way to get him. I’m a mother, you know, so that’s my point of reference.“
In response to Citizen Times questions, Hallingse said via email two officers — Matthew Clayton, 27, and Aaron Blevins, 25 — fired one shot each. Clayton was hired in June 2018, Blevins in January 2018.
"Per APD policy, each of the officers have been placed on investigative suspension," Hallingse said.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating, standard procedure in any shooting involving a police officer. That ongoing investigation restricts the information APD can release.
"In order to not compromise their investigation, no additional information on this incident is available," Hallingse said.
The bus had only a few passengers on board, and they and the driver got off the bus unharmed.
On Aug. 20, the APD tweeted this: "APD Crisis Negotiation Team on-scene at 1600 block of Hendersonville Rd w/ individual that barricaded themselves, w/knife, on a bus after ABC police attempted to serve open warrants. All other persons on bus have been safely evacuated. Incident ongoing, expect traffic delays."
Hallingse also noted that APD is working with the city attorney to ask via a court order for the release of body cam footage from the incident. The Citizen Times also has requested the footage and video from the bus.
The SBI's report of the incident will be turned over to Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams, who will decide if the shooting was justified.
In 2018, Williams decided against pursuing charges against an APD officer who shot a man who had attacked the officer with a box cutter at a local motel. The assailant was shot three times after he stabbed and slashed at the police lieutenant.
The suspect survived and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on a governmental officer. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Training and policy
The APD's Crisis Negotiation Team has specialized training to deal with a range of issues, including encounters with persons with mental illness.
Hallingse said via email that all APD officers are trained in Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, which includes de-escalation training.
"Within the training there are several potential scenarios, two of which involve a suspect with a knife," Hallingse said. "In one of the scenarios officers are able to de-escalate the suspect, and in another scenario, de-escalation is not possible."
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The department's Policy Manual states officers should use de-escalation techniques when safe to "attempt to slow down and/or stabilize a situation to allow for more time, options, and resources for incident resolution."
Those techniques can range from moving to a safer location and talking to the person "to promote rational decision making" to "avoidance of physical confrontation, unless immediately necessary."
"When safe and feasible, officers should consider whether a subject’s lack of compliance is a deliberate attempt to resist or an inability to comply based on factors such as, but not limited to: a medical condition, mental impairment, developmental disability, language barrier, influence of drug or alcohol use, perceived age, and/or a behavioral crisis," the manual states.
Using lethal force
Officers are allowed to use lethal force when it "appears to be reasonably necessary" to protect the officer or someone else from the "use or imminent use of lethal physical force" and under these conditions:
• To prevent the escape from custody of a person the officer reasonably believes is attempting to escape by means of a deadly weapon, or who by his/her conduct or any other means indicates that he/she presents an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to others unless apprehended without delay.
• To stop an immediate life-endangering threat in order to protect others.
• To stop the threat while advancing to or retreating with individuals when facing
overwhelming gunfire.
Before using lethal force, officers, when possible, should identify themselves as law enforcement and order the person to stop the behavior.
The policy further states officers "will not use lethal force to subdue persons whose actions are a threat only to property or against persons whose conduct is a threat only to themselves." Officers are not allowed to fire warning shots.
Officers also receive annual in-service training on use of force policies and de-escalation techniques.
The manual also states, "Officers must only use the amount of force that is objectively reasonable, necessary under the circumstances, and proportional to the threat or resistance of a subject. Any use of force that is objectively unreasonable or unnecessary may subject officers to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, as well as civil and criminal liability."
The background: property damage, and assault
How APD and ABC officers came to apprehend Dalton on a city bus is also a complicated sequence of events. Some locals were not even aware the Asheville Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has its own sworn officers.
The ABC Board has two officers and a supervising officer, Chief Al Bottego.
The officers have to go through Basic Law Enforcement Training, as APD and Sheriff's Office deputies do, and they are sworn law enforcement officers in North Carolina with the authority to make arrests and a requirement for annual certifications. They carry sidearms and handcuffs, according to Asheville ABC Board General Manager Mark Combs.
Combs said his officers conduct compliance checks, investigate larcenies and handle other crimes associated with the ABC operation.
"We do a lot of drug arrests,' Combs said. "They work with a lot of homeless folks hanging out and dealing at stores. They do law enforcement and have blue lights on the cars and they have the power of arrest. It's not a Wackenhut (security company) job."
The ABC officers involved in the Dalton case remain on the job and will not be disciplined, Combs said.
Bottego and Combs said the ABC's first issue with Dalton came on July 4 when four tires on a truck were slashed at an ABC facility at 24 Old Brevard Road. Video of the incident was captured and Dalton "was identified as being the person" possibly responsible, Combs said.
On July 15, ABC Officer Matthew Oberlin was checking the same facility, as he had heard homeless people were living on a two-acre tract behind the building, Combs said. When Oberlin pulled up, he realized the same man in the vandalism video was sitting nearby on some railroad ties.
Combs and Bottego said the man attacked Oberlin before the ABC officer could exit his vehicle, a 2015 Jeep Patriot. Oberlin was beaten, left "incapacitated" and with several broken ribs, Bottego said, adding that Oberlin is a "pretty tough cat" but the assailant was "a really dangerous individual."
Oberlin was not available for an interview.
The assailant, whom Combs and Bottego say was identified as Dalton, took Oberlin's Jeep, which was his ABC vehicle and outfitted with blue lights, and drove it into the French Broad River.
After this incident, the ABC officers took out arrest warrants for Dalton, with charges including felony assault on a law enforcement officer inflicting injury, felony larceny of a law enforcement vehicle and two counts of misdemeanor injury to personal property. A Metropolitan Sewerage District fence was also damaged in the July 15 incident, warrants state.
ABC officers also took out a misdemeanor warrant on Dalton for the property damage from July 4.
Before the Aug. 20 incident, ABC officers also became aware of a May 22 bulletin out of the Lynchburg, Virginia, Police Department noting Dalton was wanted on multiple felony charges.
"He has committed previous acts of violence involving a firearm, and his history includes a federal conviction for threatening violence against a government building," the bulletin states. "Please use extreme caution if you come in contact with Dalton."
The flyer listed Dalton as 6 feet tall and 260 pounds. His mother said Dalton was prone to weight gain as a side effect of anti-psychotic medicines, although she suspects he was not on medications at the time of these incidents, as the medicines have side effects Dalton does not like.
Aug. 20 incident
More than a month later, on Aug. 20, ABC Officer Oberlin had returned to light duty after convalescing with his broken ribs, Combs and Bottego said, when he spotted Dalton at a city bus stop on Long Shoals Road in Arden about 10 a.m. Oberlin called fellow ABC officer Jonathan Langford to assist, and they begin following the bus. They called Asheville Police for backup, Combs said.
Combs said he spoke with his officers after the bus incident, and they gave him details of the stop.
A passenger was on the bus at the stop in the 1600 block of Hendersonville Road, but he and the driver exited the bus safely. Another passenger got on but quickly exited.
ABC Officer Langford stood on the steps of the bus, trying to talk Dalton into coming off peacefully, but after 30 minutes the APD and its crisis team took over, Combs said. Bottego said he arrived about 50-55 minutes into the standoff.
Bottego and Combs applauded the city's crisis team for how they handled the situation. At one point, according to APD, Dalton, who had barricaded himself in the back of the bus, began stabbing himself in the neck with the lock-blade knife.
APD said Dalton disembarked the bus and "charged" at officers with a knife in hand. APD officers fired Tasers and firearms at Dalton, and he fell to the ground. He was taken to Mission Hospital for treatment.
Expert: Cops not paid 'to become martyrs'
While Pritchard has questions about the use of lethal force with her son, especially when so many police officers were surrounding him, she also acknowledges the complexity of the situation.
These types of encounters are fraught with tension, especially when a weapon is involved, according to Keith Taylor, a 24-year veteran of the New York City Police Department who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Taylor worked as a narcotics detective and a detective sergeant supervising internal affairs and other matters.
"With most non-police personnel, what they may not realize when looking at video of a situation, the margin for error is very small when you're dealing with a volatile individual — someone who is not listening to commands or refusing to stop doing what they're doing," Taylor said. "There are any number of things that can cause an officer to feel a distinct fear for his life or other lives."
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A knife is definitely a potentially lethal weapon, Taylor said, and officers have to make a very quick decision on what type of force to use to neutralize a knife-wielding suspect. If they opt for the Taser and it fails, "Then what?" Taylor said.
Such encounters and officers' responses depend on their level of comfort with non-lethal tools such as Tasers or collapsible batons, Taylor said. Asheville officers do carry expandable batons and pepper spray, as well as handguns and Tasers (if they have passed Crisis Intervention Training).
But responding to a knife-wielding suspect with lethal force generally is an appropriate response, Taylor said.
"Police officers are getting paid to defend people but not to become martyrs," Taylor said.
Law enforcement deaths, civilian deaths
FBI statistics released May 4 show 89 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2019, including 48 by “felonious acts” and 41 in accidents. Of the felonious deaths, nine deaths occurred in “tactical situations,” including three involving “barricaded/hostage situations.” Of the 48 deaths, 44 officers were killed by firearms.
Detailed assault statistics on officers for 2019 won't be available till the fall, but the FBI's 2018 statistics show of the nation's 546,247 officers, 58,866 officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2018, or a rate of 10.8 per 100 sworn officers.
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Of those assaulted:
• Nearly 31% sustained injuries.
• Of those assaulted and injured, 24.7% were attacked with personal weapons — hands, fists, or feet.
• 8.4% were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments.
Critics argue that police kill far more civilians than the other way around, and the mentally ill are more likely to be victims.
The Washington Post reported Aug. 27 that "1,019 people have been shot and killed by police in the past year." The Post began tallying fatal police shootings in 2015, concerned that the FBI was under-counting them, and found, "In that time there have been more than 5,000 such shootings recorded by The Post."
Mentally ill more likely to be shot
The Post found that of 5,587 people shot by police since Jan. 1, 2015, 1,253 had some form of mental illness.
In 2015, the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit dedicated to eliminating treatment barriers for severe mental illness, released a study that found, "People with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians approached or stopped by law enforcement."
Garry Crites, executive director of NAMI NC, the statewide chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, stressed that mental illness does not automatically equate to violent tendencies. The traits can go together, but Crites warns against "using a broad brush to paint anyone with a mental illness as potentially violent."
Crites is not a clinician and did not want to comment specifically on the Asheville incident, although he did note that Asheville Police and the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office both have "some seriously trained crisis intervention officers."
The real crux of the issue is a lack of treatment throughout the system, Crites said.
"It’s really difficult for people to get the care they need," Crites said. "The reason why we love those kind of officers and help train those Crisis Intervention Team officers is because of what’s happened with our health care system. If you're a person of lower income who does have a mental illness, you're more likely to end up in the emergency room or the jail than in a mental health facility getting meaningful treatment."
Bottego, who witnessed from a distance Dalton's takedown, says he's "100% on board with the police department and the way they handled the situation.
"This is a business based on action and reaction, and the suspect created that action that brought it to a close," Bottego said.
'He doesn't think like regular people anymore'
For her part, Pritchard says her son is "very intelligent and he can appear in control of his faculties for a period of time, but it won't last." Talk with him for more than six or seven minutes, she said, and it becomes clear that "something is off."
"He doesn't think like regular people anymore," she said.
After the Washington, D.C., incident, in which Dalton had delusions involving aliens and potential damage to a federal building, authorities asked Pritchard, who lived alone at the time, if her son could return home. She said no, because she had concerns about his violent tendencies.
Pritchard's family loves Dalton and they're heartsick over his path in life. She said she has a "file five inches thick" about him, schizophrenia and related issues, and she's taken multiple classes and trainings on schizophrenia.
She sent the Citizen Times photos from Dalton's childhood that depict normal activities and milestones — a shot of Dalton holding a soccer ball, painting artwork as a pre-schooler, standing with his brother in a portrait. He was a normal kid, but his adulthood veered into another path.
Pritchard said she hasn't seen her son now in seven years. But she'll always be his mother.
"Ironically, despite all the mean things he's said and done, we all still love him," Pritchard said. "That’s what’s incredible, I think. We do love him — his brother and I and his dad."
But they know Dalton is very hard to help. He's on and off his medications, as the side effects include weight gain, lethargy, dizziness, drowsiness and loss of libido.
'I want to feel confident that they had tried everything'
Pritchard hopes the Asheville Police Department will thoroughly study the incident with her son and learn from it, and if they erred, admit that. But she knows the officers needed to protect themselves, too.
"I agree with that. I’m just hurting," Pritchard said. "I’m not one of those screamers or crazy people. I’m just not. I’m pretty rational, and I just want to know how he’s doing and if they did everything they could. I want to feel confident that they had tried everything.”
She's watched video of the incident on local news and social media.
"I did observe one of the officers hugging another of the officers afterward," Pritchard said. "That made me cry, because it made me feel they were invested in trying to help Grant."
Pritchard also hopes families will seek care as early as possible if their children show signs of mental illness — and keep loving them no matter what.
"When you have kids, you think if you love them so much, it'll all turn out good," she said. "But it doesn't always work out that way."
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