DA investigation continues after Fresno police sergeant’s arrest on drug, robbery charges
A sergeant who has worked for the Fresno Police Department for nearly 20 years has been arrested on suspicion of DUI, drug possession and robbery.
Police Chief Paco Balderrama and Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp on Wednesday morning outlined the case against Sgt. Donald Dinell, who has worked for the department since 2003.
He was arrested after he was involved in a crash in his police cruiser, and a drug test found him positive for fentanyl, according to Balderrama.
Dinell acquired methamphetamine laced with fentanyl by taking it from a woman in a suspected robbery earlier on the day of his crash on Dec. 30, Balderrama said.
He faces charges for DUI, drug possession and robbery. His bail after arrest will be $31,000, according to Smittcamp.
Balderrama said Dinell remains on paid administrative leave since Jan. 11. Dinnell turned himself in Tuesday afternoon on the outstanding arrest warrant. He then placed his bond, allowing him to be released.
“As of today, he is employed. There is a protocol and process for termination, which we intend to follow,” Balderrama said.
An administrative investigation related to Dinell’s employment is ongoing and Balderrama said he would not discuss it.
Crash and police response
A witness reported a patrol car about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 30 driving erratically on Riverside Drive, south of the Marketplace at El Paseo near Herndon Avenue and Highway 99, police said. Dinell’s cruiser knocked over a tree a struck a curb in an empty parking lot, police said.
Balderrama said police initially responded to the incident thinking Dinell was having a heart attack or other medical episode. Then after attending to him, police said, they believed he had accidentally been exposed to fentanyl.
Officers administered Narcan, the life-saving drug used on people during an overdose, and the sergeant recovered, Balderrama said.
During the follow-up investigation, Balderrama said, officers found Dinell had gone to a drug-related call earlier on the day of the crash. Other officers who were headed there were pulled away to a more important call but Dinell continued on, he said.
Dinell found a woman who had used meth and then “by force or fear” took the drugs from the woman before ingesting them, the chief said.
Balderrama said Dinell did not write a report about the initial incident and his body-worn camera did not provide footage. “That’s what first made me suspicious,” Balderrama said. “There should have been.”
Police said Wednesday they did not have any evidence of other times Dinell may have used drugs.
As a patrol sergeant, Dinell has been a supervisor for several years and did not routinely make arrests, Balderrama said.
District attorney involved
Smittcamp commended the police department, saying the chief was transparent about the arrest and brought Fresno County District Attorney’s Office investigators in on the case.
She said Wednesday during the news conference that her office would file the three charges against Dinell. The felony trial team will handle the prosecution, she said.
Investigators are reviewing any cases in which Dinell was recently involved, she said, for potential issues related to the Brady Rule.
That rule forces prosecutors to disclose any information to the court that could potentially affect the outcome of a trial, including evidence that could possibly impeach an officer’s credibility, legal authorities have said.
Any case where Dinell might need to be called as a witness will be reviewed, she said.
“As the chief said, (Dinell’s) job duties do not include those types of things where he’s the primary person involved usually with the suspects or the witnesses in the cases,” she said. “So we have started to audit some of his cases and we will be looking in depth at the details of all the cases that he has been involved in.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 9:43 AM.
