On Tuesday morning, Officer Dustin Dillard received a promotion as a Dallas Police Department ceremony took place. Dillard is the police officer who held Tony Timpa on the ground, face-down, for 14 minutes.
Dustin Dillard was an officer when the occurrence took place in 2016. Now, he is a senior corporal. This is the next step up from being an officer and entails training new officers.
According to documents, senior corporals are chosen from the department when an opening in a squad happens. Officers who have been a part of DPD’s force for three years may be chosen. They must have also served as a police officer for two of those years. Then, they are allowed to take an exam for the rank of senior corporal.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia stated that the officers that were being promoted had excellent work ethics and commitment. He added that these new duties will be greater and will present new obstacles.
In 2016, Dillard and three other officers, Raymond Dominguez, Kevin Mansell, and Danny Vasquez, were seen on body cam footage pinning Timpa down. This happened a few minutes before Timpa died. Officers were overheard laughing as Timpa was yelling and crying for assistance before he was unresponsive.
After a few moments, the recording revealed officers administering CPR on Timpa prior to emergency crews pronouncing Timpa deceased.
Medical documents noted that Timpa had a cardiac death. This was a result of cocaine and stress connected to physical restraint. He also suffered from an enlarged heart.
In 2019, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot dismissed the charges of misdemeanor deadly conduct that the officers had been indicted on.
Now, in a civil lawsuit, the family is claiming excessive force and bystander liability. The city is representing the four officers.
