By Roger McCredie- “It’s ongoing.”
That’s the City of Ashevile’s
official response to inquiries about the status of Asheville Police
Department’s internal investigation into the actions of a veteran officer who
arrested a man who was stabbed during a downtown fracas, but did not arrest the
man who stabbed him.
It’s also the same answer the
city gave to the same question in mid-December, 2013, some two weeks after the
incident occurred. Meanwhile, the alleged stabber is free and the stabbee is
still awaiting his day in court.
It was shortly before midnight
last Nov. 30 – the Saturday after Thanksgiving – that APD Sgt. J. S. Riddle was
called to the scene of a fight outside Pack’s Tavern, located on Pack Square,
literally feet away from police headquarters. According to reports, Riddle
broke up a fight between Michael Del Buono, 44, of Arden and Mark Durner, 41, whose
address was listed as Fletcher.
Del Buono was found to have a
stab wound in his leg and Riddle asked him if he wanted to press charges. Del
Buono asked about the proper procedure for filing charges against a law
officer.
According to Del Buono, Riddle
asked, “He [Durner] is an officer?” Del Buono indicated Durner had imparted
this piece of information during the course of the fight. Del Buono has stated
Riddle then took Durner aside and confirmed that Durner was in fact a “reserve”
sheriff’s deputy, whereupon, Del Buono maintains, the situation turned
completely around: Riddle told Durner he was free to go, hauled Del Buono next
door to the police station – wounded leg and all — and charged him with being
intoxicated and disruptive, a misdemeanor. Once charged, Del Buono, who was
found to be bleeding copiously in the magistrate’s office, was allowed to take
himself to Mission Hospital for treatment. The wound required three stitches to
close.
In an interview with the
Asheville Citizen-Times, Del Buono stated he and his stepson had been having a
nightcap at Pack’s Tavern when a man he identified as Durner began trying to
converse with a woman nearby, who made it clear that she did not reciprocate
his interest. Del Buono’s stepson asked the man to leave the woman alone. The
man threatened Del Buono’s stepson. Del Buono stood up and intervened. Del
Buono said Durner shoved him and he responded by hitting Durner on the jaw. At
that point, Pack’s Tavern personnel forced Durner to leave. Del Buono and his
stepson finished their drinks and left Pack’s about 25 minutes later. As they
made their way to their car, Del Buono said, Durner, who had apparently been
waiting outside, accosted them and the fight broke out again, culminating in
Del Buono’s being stabbed.
The Citizen-Times did not
identify Durner by name in its story – which did not appear until Dec. 11 –on
grounds that he was not charged in the incident. Later the same day, however,
the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement identifying Durner and
saying that it had revoked his reserve deputy credentials. In an update the
Citizen-Times reported the revocation but still declined to mention Durner by
name, although the Sheriff’s statement to the media did so, thus making
Durner’s identity a matter of record.
In the meantime, Del Buono
filed a formal complaint against Riddle and his handling of the case. The
lodging of such a complaint automatically generates an internal police
investigation and APD acknowledged that an official inquiry into Del Buono’s
complaint had been launched.
On December 13 the Tribune
contacted city communications officer Dawa Hitch, who said that the
investigation into Riddle’s conduct was “ongoing.” On Thursday (January 16) the
Tribune recontacted Hitch for an update. “It [the investigation] is ongoing,”
she said.
The Tribune then turned to Sgt.
Jonathan Brown of APD’s professional standards unit, who had originally
confirmed that there was an internal investigation underway. Brown referred
questions to Sgt. Dave Romick, the APD’s public information officer. Several
voicemail messages to Romick regarding the investigation had not been returned
at press time.
Del Buono was originally
scheduled to appear in court January 9 to answer the intoxicated-and-disruptive
charge Riddle filed against him; however, his case has now been continued until
February 27. By that time it will have been almost exactly three months since
the scuffle outside Pack’s Tavern took place. No action has been taken against
Durner other than the revoking of his reserve deputy credentials. Riddle,
though nominally under investigation, is going about his regular duties. And a
local criminal defense attorney, who is not connected with the case but spoke
on condition of anonymity, said the present situation is not likely to change
in the near future.
[Del Buono’s court case] “will
probably just keep getting continued,” the attorney said. “It might be sometime
this summer before it ever gets heard.” This puts Del Buono in a catch-22
situation if he should decide to take any legal action of his own.
“He would pretty much need to
get the criminal charges against him dropped or be acquitted of them before
bringing any litigation of his own,” the attorney said.
