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Riverside County sheriff's officials say Scott Dibble acted in self-defense when he shot two men, one of whom died.
Riverside County prosecutors are expected today to begin reviewing a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into an attack on an off-duty Costa Mesa police officer in Old Town Temecula that didn't end until he fatally shot one of his attackers and wounded another.
The March 8 beating left Costa Mesa police motorcycle officer Scott Dibble, a nine-year veteran and married father of four, with six staples in the back of his head.
Dibble acted in self-defense, according to sheriff's officials, when he shot and killed Shaun Adam Vilan, a 30-year-old parolee with a history of unprovoked violent assaults, and wounded 22-year-old Taylor Willis in the leg.
The officer had been knocked to the ground by what several witnesses said was a metal chair. Dibble was stomped and beaten by as many as five men. The beating continued even after Dibble identified himself as a police officer, according to sheriff's officials.
Bloodied and beaten, Dibble pulled out his gun and fired five times, hitting Vilan and Willis.
POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES
Riverside County prosecutors are expected to receive the sheriff's five-week investigation into the deadly attack today, and will review the findings to see if criminal charges should be brought against any of the men involved. Under California law, conspirators in crimes can be charged with murder if someone is killed in the commission of a felony.
The shooting by an off-duty police officer is the latest in a spate of off-duty encounters by Southern California law enforcement officers in recent weeks.
An off-duty San Diego police officer was put on paid leave after he shot a 27-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son March 15 in what officials say was a road-rage incident in Oceanside. On April 1, an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy shot a 19-year-old man on the 105 freeway in Hawthorne, who is alleged to have tried to run him off the road and attacked him with a knife.
No arrests have been made in the Temecula attack. Authorities have not yet released the names of the other men suspected of playing a part in the attack. It was not until late Friday that authorities finally identified Dibble, two weeks after the Costa Mesa officer was allowed to return to duty,
Dibble, 31, still faces an internal investigation by his own department into whether he violated departmental policy.
Dibble was apparently attacked in retaliation for grabbing a woman with Vilan and his friends inside the restaurant, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. He apologized, but was attacked when he stepped outside for some fresh air, according to Riverside sheriff's officials.
OLD TOWN UNSETTLED
Partial to wooden sidewalks, homemade fudge and old-fashioned country charm, Old Town Temecula was shaken by the deadly shooting, which played out on a crowded street that had just played host to thousands of classic car fans at the city's annual Rod Run.
It was the Rod Run, a family tradition, that brought Vilan to Old Town that Saturday to spend the day with his two half-brothers, his 7-year-old son, his girlfriend and a few friends to look at the hot rods and cruise through the streets of Temecula. For Dibble, it was a day of sightseeing and a visit to the wine country with friends that brought him to Temecula.
And it was an apparent case of mistaken identity that caused the paths of the officer and the ex-con to cross in a deadly way.
While at the Bank of Mexican Food, Dibble grabbed a woman's behind, apparently thinking she was his wife, authorities said. Realizing his mistake, he apologized to the woman, who happened to be the wife of Vilan's best friend.
"There was some inappropriate touching, but he apologized, and thought that was it," said Investigator Jerry Franchville of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Not feeling well, Dibble was sitting in a chair across the street from the restaurant about 7:15 p.m. when he was hit from behind.
The blow knocked the officer to the ground, temporarily dazing him, said Franchville.
Bleeding from the head and blood running into his eyes, Dibble realized he was being attacked by four or five men, Franchville said.
Several witnesses not connected to Dibble or his attackers heard the officer identify himself as a police officer, and some even saw him flash his badge, Franchville said.
Despite the officer's cries for the attack to stop, the beating continued, Franchville said. Dibble pulled out his gun and fired five times, hitting his two closest attackers, Franchville said. Vilan was hit twice, once in the chest and once in the arm. Willis was hit twice in the thigh.
Vilan, who was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon, later died at a hospital. Willis remained hospitalized for several days.
Results of toxicology tests done during Vilan's autopsy to determine if he had alcohol in his system when he was killed have not yet been released. Investigators from the Costa Mesa Police Department took a blood sample from Dibble for use in their internal investigation, but Riverside County sheriff's officials said they did not take one as part of their investigation.
Dibble, according to numerous witnesses, did not appear intoxicated, Franchville said. But Vilan's family and friends said that the officer had been drinking inside the restaurant.
Letty Gonzales had just closed up shop at Temecula Country Store Candy &Fudge on Main Street when she saw the commotion of sheriff's patrol cars, fire department and frantic crowd.
"This is a nice quiet place where things like that just don't happen," Gonzales said. "But we are very pro-law enforcement. If he identified himself, they should have backed off. That should have been it."
CARRYING WEAPONS
Under California law, sworn police officers are allowed, but not required, to carry guns off-duty, a provision aimed at keeping the officers safe from potential retaliation and allowing them an additional tool in case of an emergency. By law, enforcement officers are required to intervene if they witness a felony, a duty that may be easier – and safer – to carry out if they are armed.
The Costa Mesa Police Department does not specifically have a policy governing the consumption of alcohol while carrying a gun, said department spokesman Sgt. Bryan Glass. Many police officers, regardless of where they work, make it a habit to leave their guns behind when they go to bars or other places where they plan to drink. Officers are expected to conduct themselves in an upstanding manner on and off-duty, Glass said.
Many law enforcement agencies, including the Huntington Beach Police Department, rely on a sweeping improper conduct policy that governs proper behavior on and off-duty. According to Huntington Beach's policy manual, employees are to conduct themselves "in such a manner as to reflect most favorably on the Department.
Improper conduct shall include that which brings the Department into disrepute or reflects discredit upon the employee as a member of the Department, or that which impairs the operation or efficiency of the Department or member thereof."
Newport Beach police officers are not only allowed, but encouraged to carry handguns off-duty, in order to cope with any level of threat, according to that department's employee manual. The policy manual also warns officers not to drink to a point of excess that they become obnoxious or offensive.
But the department – like Costa Mesa and so many other departments – does not specifically have a policy governing the consumption of alcohol while carrying a gun off-duty.
Costa Mesa officials plan to conduct an internal review of the shooting after they review the Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
HISTORY OF ATTACKS
Born while his mother was still in high school, Vilan was remembered by close friends as a kind, generous person who could light up a room. But his criminal history tells a far different story.
Vilan, who was on parole after spending six years in state prison for two assaults, had a lengthy history of ganging up on people and attacking them, according to court records. His convictions included two unprovoked assaults in 1996 and 1998, which involve Vilan smashing two people in the face with beer bottles.
In a 1996 attack, Vilan smashed a man in the face with a beer bottle, and continued to hold the broken bottle over his victim's face until the man's brother hit Vilan over the head with a wrench.
In the 1998 incident, Vilan, who was on bail at the time, approached a guest at a birthday party and sniffed him, saying, "You smell like white trash." The two men squared off, but before any punches could be thrown, Vilan smashed a beer bottle in the face of the man who stepped between them, court records show.
An October 2001 opinion by Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, also show a series of alleged assaults for which Vilan was never charged, including a birthday party in August 1996 when Vilan and a friend were said to have brutally beat a guest who tried to stop them from ransacking the bedroom of the host's father, punching him and stomping on his head with steel-toed boots.
A month later, Vilan and two other men were accused of jumping the brother of one of Vilan's previous victims, punching him, knocking him to the ground and kicking him, court records show.
In November 1997, according to court accounts, Vilan and two other men attacked a man eating in his car with his girlfriend outside a fast-food restaurant, punching and kicking him.
Two months later, Vilan punched a man in the face three times just for looking at him, according to court records.
"None of the victims did any provoking – Vilan and his cohorts did all the provoking. All the victims were outnumbered. All the encounters featured 'low blows,' i.e., unfair fighting by Vilan and his cohorts," wrote Manuel A. Ramirez, presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, in the October 2001 opinion rejecting Vilan's appeal that evidence in his two trials was improperly admitted.
Married while behind bars, Vilan forged a relationship with his son, Dilan, through trips his son and wife made to Soledad State Prison. But the marriage didn't last. Vilan and his wife, Marcella, filed for divorce in February 2005, when he was still incarcerated. Vilan worked as a day trader after being released from prison 2.5 years ago, sharing custody of his son.
Days after her oldest son was shot to death, Karen Crowley, dressed in a pink top, sat curled up in the passenger seat of a black SUV in the parking lot of a Carl's Jr., a bouquet of flowers on her lap. She watched as friends of her son washed cars and motorcycles, filling a plastic bucket with dollar bills and twenties as they raised money for a funeral. Crowley has hired an attorney to do her talking in court. But she would say one thing.
"All I want is my son back," Crowley said.
The March 8 beating left Costa Mesa police motorcycle officer Scott Dibble, a nine-year veteran and married father of four, with six staples in the back of his head.
Dibble acted in self-defense, according to sheriff's officials, when he shot and killed Shaun Adam Vilan, a 30-year-old parolee with a history of unprovoked violent assaults, and wounded 22-year-old Taylor Willis in the leg.
The officer had been knocked to the ground by what several witnesses said was a metal chair. Dibble was stomped and beaten by as many as five men. The beating continued even after Dibble identified himself as a police officer, according to sheriff's officials.
Bloodied and beaten, Dibble pulled out his gun and fired five times, hitting Vilan and Willis.
POSSIBLE CRIMINAL CHARGES
Riverside County prosecutors are expected to receive the sheriff's five-week investigation into the deadly attack today, and will review the findings to see if criminal charges should be brought against any of the men involved. Under California law, conspirators in crimes can be charged with murder if someone is killed in the commission of a felony.
The shooting by an off-duty police officer is the latest in a spate of off-duty encounters by Southern California law enforcement officers in recent weeks.
An off-duty San Diego police officer was put on paid leave after he shot a 27-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son March 15 in what officials say was a road-rage incident in Oceanside. On April 1, an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy shot a 19-year-old man on the 105 freeway in Hawthorne, who is alleged to have tried to run him off the road and attacked him with a knife.
No arrests have been made in the Temecula attack. Authorities have not yet released the names of the other men suspected of playing a part in the attack. It was not until late Friday that authorities finally identified Dibble, two weeks after the Costa Mesa officer was allowed to return to duty,
Dibble, 31, still faces an internal investigation by his own department into whether he violated departmental policy.
Dibble was apparently attacked in retaliation for grabbing a woman with Vilan and his friends inside the restaurant, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. He apologized, but was attacked when he stepped outside for some fresh air, according to Riverside sheriff's officials.
OLD TOWN UNSETTLED
Partial to wooden sidewalks, homemade fudge and old-fashioned country charm, Old Town Temecula was shaken by the deadly shooting, which played out on a crowded street that had just played host to thousands of classic car fans at the city's annual Rod Run.
It was the Rod Run, a family tradition, that brought Vilan to Old Town that Saturday to spend the day with his two half-brothers, his 7-year-old son, his girlfriend and a few friends to look at the hot rods and cruise through the streets of Temecula. For Dibble, it was a day of sightseeing and a visit to the wine country with friends that brought him to Temecula.
And it was an apparent case of mistaken identity that caused the paths of the officer and the ex-con to cross in a deadly way.
While at the Bank of Mexican Food, Dibble grabbed a woman's behind, apparently thinking she was his wife, authorities said. Realizing his mistake, he apologized to the woman, who happened to be the wife of Vilan's best friend.
"There was some inappropriate touching, but he apologized, and thought that was it," said Investigator Jerry Franchville of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Not feeling well, Dibble was sitting in a chair across the street from the restaurant about 7:15 p.m. when he was hit from behind.
The blow knocked the officer to the ground, temporarily dazing him, said Franchville.
Bleeding from the head and blood running into his eyes, Dibble realized he was being attacked by four or five men, Franchville said.
Several witnesses not connected to Dibble or his attackers heard the officer identify himself as a police officer, and some even saw him flash his badge, Franchville said.
Despite the officer's cries for the attack to stop, the beating continued, Franchville said. Dibble pulled out his gun and fired five times, hitting his two closest attackers, Franchville said. Vilan was hit twice, once in the chest and once in the arm. Willis was hit twice in the thigh.
Vilan, who was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon, later died at a hospital. Willis remained hospitalized for several days.
Results of toxicology tests done during Vilan's autopsy to determine if he had alcohol in his system when he was killed have not yet been released. Investigators from the Costa Mesa Police Department took a blood sample from Dibble for use in their internal investigation, but Riverside County sheriff's officials said they did not take one as part of their investigation.
Dibble, according to numerous witnesses, did not appear intoxicated, Franchville said. But Vilan's family and friends said that the officer had been drinking inside the restaurant.
Letty Gonzales had just closed up shop at Temecula Country Store Candy &Fudge on Main Street when she saw the commotion of sheriff's patrol cars, fire department and frantic crowd.
"This is a nice quiet place where things like that just don't happen," Gonzales said. "But we are very pro-law enforcement. If he identified himself, they should have backed off. That should have been it."
CARRYING WEAPONS
Under California law, sworn police officers are allowed, but not required, to carry guns off-duty, a provision aimed at keeping the officers safe from potential retaliation and allowing them an additional tool in case of an emergency. By law, enforcement officers are required to intervene if they witness a felony, a duty that may be easier – and safer – to carry out if they are armed.
The Costa Mesa Police Department does not specifically have a policy governing the consumption of alcohol while carrying a gun, said department spokesman Sgt. Bryan Glass. Many police officers, regardless of where they work, make it a habit to leave their guns behind when they go to bars or other places where they plan to drink. Officers are expected to conduct themselves in an upstanding manner on and off-duty, Glass said.
Many law enforcement agencies, including the Huntington Beach Police Department, rely on a sweeping improper conduct policy that governs proper behavior on and off-duty. According to Huntington Beach's policy manual, employees are to conduct themselves "in such a manner as to reflect most favorably on the Department.
Improper conduct shall include that which brings the Department into disrepute or reflects discredit upon the employee as a member of the Department, or that which impairs the operation or efficiency of the Department or member thereof."
Newport Beach police officers are not only allowed, but encouraged to carry handguns off-duty, in order to cope with any level of threat, according to that department's employee manual. The policy manual also warns officers not to drink to a point of excess that they become obnoxious or offensive.
But the department – like Costa Mesa and so many other departments – does not specifically have a policy governing the consumption of alcohol while carrying a gun off-duty.
Costa Mesa officials plan to conduct an internal review of the shooting after they review the Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
HISTORY OF ATTACKS
Born while his mother was still in high school, Vilan was remembered by close friends as a kind, generous person who could light up a room. But his criminal history tells a far different story.
Vilan, who was on parole after spending six years in state prison for two assaults, had a lengthy history of ganging up on people and attacking them, according to court records. His convictions included two unprovoked assaults in 1996 and 1998, which involve Vilan smashing two people in the face with beer bottles.
In a 1996 attack, Vilan smashed a man in the face with a beer bottle, and continued to hold the broken bottle over his victim's face until the man's brother hit Vilan over the head with a wrench.
In the 1998 incident, Vilan, who was on bail at the time, approached a guest at a birthday party and sniffed him, saying, "You smell like white trash." The two men squared off, but before any punches could be thrown, Vilan smashed a beer bottle in the face of the man who stepped between them, court records show.
An October 2001 opinion by Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, also show a series of alleged assaults for which Vilan was never charged, including a birthday party in August 1996 when Vilan and a friend were said to have brutally beat a guest who tried to stop them from ransacking the bedroom of the host's father, punching him and stomping on his head with steel-toed boots.
A month later, Vilan and two other men were accused of jumping the brother of one of Vilan's previous victims, punching him, knocking him to the ground and kicking him, court records show.
In November 1997, according to court accounts, Vilan and two other men attacked a man eating in his car with his girlfriend outside a fast-food restaurant, punching and kicking him.
Two months later, Vilan punched a man in the face three times just for looking at him, according to court records.
"None of the victims did any provoking – Vilan and his cohorts did all the provoking. All the victims were outnumbered. All the encounters featured 'low blows,' i.e., unfair fighting by Vilan and his cohorts," wrote Manuel A. Ramirez, presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, in the October 2001 opinion rejecting Vilan's appeal that evidence in his two trials was improperly admitted.
Married while behind bars, Vilan forged a relationship with his son, Dilan, through trips his son and wife made to Soledad State Prison. But the marriage didn't last. Vilan and his wife, Marcella, filed for divorce in February 2005, when he was still incarcerated. Vilan worked as a day trader after being released from prison 2.5 years ago, sharing custody of his son.
Days after her oldest son was shot to death, Karen Crowley, dressed in a pink top, sat curled up in the passenger seat of a black SUV in the parking lot of a Carl's Jr., a bouquet of flowers on her lap. She watched as friends of her son washed cars and motorcycles, filling a plastic bucket with dollar bills and twenties as they raised money for a funeral. Crowley has hired an attorney to do her talking in court. But she would say one thing.
"All I want is my son back," Crowley said.
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