Trial date set in police altercation case
A trial date was set Wednesday for the man who allegedly took an officer’s weapon during a physical altercation in June last year. However, there is still a possibility that it won’t go before a jury.
Appearing before Superior Court Judge David Haws was attorney Raymond Vaca of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, who represents Ralph Sivyer. Vaca initially asked that his client’s hearing be continued. This would allow him time to re-open discussions with the prosecution about the possibility of a plea offer.
The prosecution said the county attorney’s office would be willing to continue negotiating a plea offer, but he believed it was time to set a trial date in the case.
After hearing from both counsel, Judge Haws eventually denied Vaca’s request and scheduled a trial for Sivyer in late April. He also set 8:30 a.m. on April 10 as the time and date for a final pre-trial conference.
The three-day trial, which Judge Haws will preside over, will begin at 9 a.m. on the 23rd and continue on the 24th and 25th. He also ordered that jury instructions and a list of witnesses be submitted prior to the final pre-trial conference. All motions are to be filed in a timely manner as well.
According to Yuma police, the alleged incident happened at about 11:10 p.m. on June 1, as officers were attempting to locate Sivyer. He was wanted on multiple felony charges from prior cases at the time.
Sivyer, who police say is a prohibited possessor and known to carry, was eventually located in the 2000 block of South 11th Avenue. When officers approached him, he took off and ran to his vehicle.
Officers attempted to remove Sivyer from his vehicle, and during the altercation, police say he was able to get a hold of an officer’s duty weapon and drive away with it in a 1999 black Nissan Maxima. The duty weapon is an Smith & Wesson M&P 9 mm handgun.
The two officers involved in the incident were injured.
Sivyer, who was considered armed and dangerous, was finally arrested at about 12:15 p.m. on June 21 after a Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent spotted him in the area of Dome Valley trying to sneak past the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 8.
An agent followed the vehicle until it pulled off the road on Interstate 8 east of Telegraph Pass in the eastbound lane. When the agent came back around, he saw that the vehicle was unoccupied.
After waiting for backup to arrive, agents began searching the area and found Sivyer about 100 yards off the roadway. He was taken into custody without incident and turned over to Yuma police by the Department of Public Safety.