Multi-agency effort including Sheriff and Brentwood, Antioch Police Departments
By Chief Paul Beard, Oakley Police Department
On Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 9:15AM the Oakley Police Department was called to the 30 block of Stony Hill Court on the report of Bobby Dolton (30, Oakley) actively stabbing his father. Oakley officers arrived at the location and found the victim suffering from life threatening injuries. Oakley officers applied a torniquet to the victim and carried him down the street to a position of safety while other officers secured the perimeter of the house. Oakley officers continued to provide the victim with medical care until firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene.
It was confirmed by family members, Dolton was inside the house by himself, and no other persons were in danger because of him. The Oakley Police Department called in their crisis negotiators and many off duty personnel to start doing all of the tasks involved in a high-risk situation such as this one. Oakley officers called Dolton via phone and established contact with him, but he refused to exit the house and at a certain point he terminated all contact with us. Oakley officers broke windows to the locked house and utilized public address announcements in an effort to maintain contact with Dolton and gain his compliance. Dolton was uncooperative with every request made of us.
Dolton’s level of resistance, coupled with the degree of violence of his crime, dictated that we do everything we could to take him into custody. To that end Oakley officers broke through a doorway to the home and began searching it. The entire home was searched, without finding Dolton, except for a bedroom behind a locked door. That locked door was breached, and Dolton was found inside the room armed with two knives. Oakley officers ordered Dolton to drop the knives, but he refused to do so. Oakley officers developed a plan to deal with Dolton and take him into custody with the minimal amount, yet necessary amount, of force required given these particular set of circumstances.
Due to Dolton being armed with knives, refusing to drop the knives and obviously showing a propensity to use deadly force the threat to our officers was legitimate and heightened. Oakley officers developed a plan to use an electronic weapon (TASER) on Dolton while also deploying other tactics and tools that would overcome him with physical force. Oakley officers executed the plan and took Dolton into custody with nobody else being harmed.
Dolton was transported to a local hospital where he received treatment before being booked into the MDF (jail). Dolton was booked for attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon.
Mental health issues played a role in this case. I do not believe mental health is ever a complete excuse for criminal activity, but I do acknowledge mental health breakdowns can sometimes lead to criminal activity. If you, or somebody you care for, experience a mental health crisis episode please call the Contra Costa County Health Services crisis services phone number at 1-888-678-7277. You can always call your local police department as well because police officers are trained to identify mental health issues and mitigate them in the least obtrusive way possible.
This investigation was handled by exercising all of our training as it relates to de-escalation and utilizing tactics that are safer for all concerned. The advancement of police equipment, tools, tactics and expectations played a major role in how every aspect of the investigation was handled in order to save lives. I feel it is my responsibility to state the actions of some people may not always allow for the utilization of all of the “safer” tactics that were used today. We will however, always maintain de-escalation at the forefront of what we do and utilize these types of tactics whenever the situations allow for it.
Today’s case makes me proud, once again, to be the chief of a police department where sworn and non-sworn employees know when it is time to set aside their personal lives and respond to the call of duty for situations where specialized training, specialized equipment and a presence of a larger than normal amount of officers is required in order to maintain and restore order. Several employees of the Oakley Police Department responded in from their day off in order to provide their services during this investigation. Command level officers responded to manage logistics and handle coordination with other entities, supervisors set the tone and developed good plans and tactics for this situation and non-sworn personnel responded to lend their expertise in support roles that enhanced the abilities of the sworn officers to do their jobs.
Today serves as a reminder to me the personnel of the Oakley Police Department are dedicated to the police department, the organization of the City of Oakley and the community of Oakley as a whole and all of the efforts that have gone into building a police department by making the best appointments and promotions possible continue to pay dividends time and time again- I appreciate everyone who wears the Oakley Police patch.
I hope the victim in this case is able to recover as much as possible and move on with a healthy life. I also call for appropriate accountability and treatment for the suspect so it becomes very unlikely he will harm anybody ever again.
The Antioch Police Department, Brentwood Police Department and the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff all assisted us today. I appreciate all of these departments for helping us and pooling resources together when it is necessary.
As of Monday, April 17, Dolton is being held in the West County Detention Facility in Richmond on $30,000 bail.
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