Deputy Gives Theory of Accidental Blows

For the first time since his dismissal from the Sheriff’s Department for lying about striking a man during a 1997 struggle, former Sheriff’s Deputy Donald Rodarte tried to explain how the blows could have happened accidentally.

Rodarte, 29, was fired in September 1998, after an internal investigation concluded he used his pepper spray canister to strike 21-year-old Nicholas Dowey in the head during a struggle.

Other deputies said Rodarte acknowledged striking Dowey with the canister and even showed one of them broken canister pieces.

But Rodarte was fired for lying, because he did not include this information in his report and later denied striking the blows.

Dowey died at a hospital, hours after the September 1997 altercation, from head wounds he suffered in an attack before Rodarte arrived. No arrests have been made in that case.

In his second day of testimony during a Civil Service Commission hearing to contest his termination, Rodarte demonstrated how his pepper spray canister may have accidentally struck Dowey in the head as the pair struggled.

Rodarte said before spraying, he shook the canister at least twice as he was trained to do. While holding a flailing and combative Dowey in a headlock, Rodarte tried to douse him with the spray, he said. He missed Dowey, however, and instead sprayed partner Darin Yanover, standing nearby, he said.

Rodarte’s attorney, William Hadden, argued Monday that if Rodarte’s canister had stricken Dowey at all, it was an inadvertent blow Rodarte may not have been aware of.

Assistant County Counsel Leroy Smith asked Rodarte why he never mentioned this explanation to investigators, or anyone else, until the hearing.

“Nobody ever asked me if I shook my canister up and down,” Rodarte said. “Nobody from the department, nobody from internal affairs, nobody.”

Rodarte said he never told other deputies he had hit Dowey or displayed his broken canister pieces to anyone.

“If Deputy Pat Hardy said you showed him the canister,” Smith asked, “would that be a true statement?”

“That would be up to Deputy Hardy to answer,” Rodarte said. “I’m not going to question his character.”

The hearing before Civil Service Commissioner Bill Mehrens is expected to continue through Friday at the county administration building.