Man shot by Modesto officer was in mental health crisis, off medication, parents say

Jul. 8—Family members of the man shot by a Modesto Police officer on the Fourth of July say he was in a mental health crisis and needed help. They have unanswered questions about how the incident was handled and why it escalated into a shooting.

The Modesto Police Department has released few details about the shooting that occurred inside a home at a multiplex on Roselawn Avenue in west Modesto. They have said only that they were dispatched to a family disturbance there around 10:20 p.m.; the shooting took place about an hour later; the suspect had a "deadly weapon" and "attacked" the officer; and that the officer suffered an injury for which he was treated at a hospital and released.

The man's family has identified him as 35-year-old Dylan Harvey and his father, who was at the scene but didn't witness the shooting, talked about what he saw that night. Harvey's mother and father also provided context about their son's mental illness.

Harvey's parents said he was a bright child who earned straight As, was in the chess club and went to Europe as a student ambassador during the summer between graduating from Evelyn Hanshaw Middle School and starting at Ceres High School.

But a few years later his parents began to notice changes in their son.

"When mental illness hit, it hit very, very quickly," Harvey's mother, Dianne Stalewski, said Thursday.

She described his behavior as erratic and paranoid and said he began self-medicating with marijuana.

Harvey moved in with his mother in Texas when he was 17 and stayed there for about eight years. She got him into inpatient treatment for a time but it eventually became too difficult for her to work full time and care for him.

"He goes into these manic phases and is terrified someone is going to hurt him," Stalewski said.

Harvey moved back to Modesto with his dad, Kim Hunter, in 2011.

Hunter said he had to retire early from his position as a teacher at Elliott Alternative Education Center in order to care for Harvey, which contributed to a period of homelessness for the father and son. They eventually got into transitional housing and then moved into their home on Roselawn.

Hunter said Harvey was diagnosed with bipolar schizoaffective disorder and his condition has worsened over the past few years. He has been put on involuntary psychiatric holds three times in the past five years, Hunter said.

Harvey has no previous criminal record in Stanislaus County. Hunter said he was arrested in Texas for trespassing when he was a minor and a few years ago he was arrested for making repeated calls to 911 but he was never charged.

Harvey's brother, Cole Harvey, said, "When he gets manic his energy feels aggressive, but he is scared." He said he and his brother have fought and he's had to hold him down but he wouldn't describe Dylan as violent.

Dylan Harvey "is afraid of everything," he rarely leaves home, refuses to get in a car, hasn't had a haircut in two years and showers only once a week, Hunter said. Appointments with Harvey's psychiatrist have to be conducted over the phone in order to get him medication.

The night of July 4 was the third straight day Harvey had refused to take his medication and he'd been taking it inconsistently for a month, Hunter said.

Harvey had lost his phone so he took Hunter's that night. When Hunter asked for the phone, Harvey became agitated, told him he needed it for protection, got two foot-long kitchen knives and locked himself in his bedroom.

Hunter went to a neighbor's home; the neighbors called police for him.

In radio traffic of the incident a dispatcher can be heard telling officers that Harvey was "off his medication," had locked himself in his room with "two long knives" and threatened to harm his parent.

Hunter acknowledged that he was afraid because Harvey had the knives.

He said he went outside and waited in his car until two officers arrived about 20 minutes later. He talked to them for about 20 minutes, telling them Harvey's medical and mental health history.

Then the officers entered the home and about 10 minutes later came outside with Harvey and talked calmly with him for a few minutes, Hunter said.

Hunter said the officers wouldn't let him talk to his son but told him they were going to take Harvey to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Hunter asked them if he could go inside and get his son's medication but the officers told him no. Instead, the officer said Harvey could go inside to get the medicine and one of the officers followed him, Hunter said. Shortly after that, two shots were fired.

Hunter ran inside his home and found his son on his bedroom floor bleeding. He said the officer was consoling Harvey who was saying, "It hurts so much."

Harvey was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds to his jaw and left arm.

More officers arrived at the scene and crime scene tape surrounded the multiplex. Hunter said he was told to wait outside the crime scene and that no one could get in or out for five hours while the officers investigated.

On Wednesday, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office charged Harvey with attempted murder of a police officer, who was identified in a criminal complaint as Jacob Mertz.

An enhancement was added to the charge alleging Harvey "personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, to wit, a knife."

Modesto Police will not say whether Mertz was cut by the knife.

Hunter said he never saw officers bring the knives out of the home when they first came out with Harvey and that Harvey was not in handcuffs when they reentered the residence.

Assuming the knives were left in the home, Stalewski said, "Why would the police officer walk into the house with Dylan, directly to the location where the knives are? That is not very good judgment."

At this point, "no one knows what happened except Dylan and the police officer," Stalewski said.

Modesto Police spokeswoman Sharon Bear said Thursday that they could not comment on Hunter's account of what occurred or release any more details about the shooting as the investigation is ongoing. She said the department will be releasing body camera footage in the coming weeks.

Until then, Harvey's parents are wondering how a man in the middle of a mental health crises ended up shot and charged with attempted murder.

"There is no way he could survive in prison," Stalewski said. "It's unconscionable that they would expect to put this young man in this situation as vulnerable as he is and helpless as he is."

Harvey remains hospitalized and had surgery Wednesday to repair his jaw. Hunter said he has not been allowed to see his son in the hospital but has received updates by phone from a doctor.

Harvey was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday but, because he remains hospitalized, the arraignment was continued to July 14.

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