Deputy in wrongful-death lawsuit also accused of sexual assault

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News is learning more about the Georgia deputies that parents say killed their 18-year-old son after a chase--an incident recorded on video.

Channel 2’s Craig Lucie exclusively obtained the dash-cam video and the excessive-force lawsuit the teens parents filed, naming four deputies.

Investigators arrested one of the deputies in the case because they say he sexually assaulted women he pulled over.

The parents of Nicholas Dyskma, 18, told Lucie that the deputy and three others killed their son when they pulled him over.

The dash-cam video shows Harris County deputies chasing Nicholas Dyksma on a dark road just outside of the Columbus, Georgia, city limits.

His parents told Lucie they can’t watch it, but they want others to see it.

“I think he was just scared. He had just turned 18 and he was scared,” said mother Tammy Dyskma.

Her husband agreed while consoling her.

“Nicholas didn’t do anything wrong. He was asleep in his truck. I understand if he came out (of a) store with a gun in his hand with a bag full of money, then yes, you would chase this person, but he was asleep in his truck. Why would you chase him in the first place? He was hunted down like a murder suspect driving down (the) road. They didn’t care,” said father Greg Dyskma.

The Dyksmas’ attorney, Craig Jones, of the Orlando Law Firm in Decatur, said a Columbus police officer knocked on the window of Nicholas Dyksma’s truck while he was asleep in a gas station parking lot.

Jones said the knock startled Dyksma and he drove off, leading the officer on a chase. That officer backed off once he reached the Harris County Line.

As soon as Nicholas Dyksma was cornered by Harris County deputies, the video shows, the deputies kicked his truck, broke his windows and pulled out their stun guns.

One of the deputies wrote in his report that he deployed his stun gun and it struck Nicholas in the left side of his chest. The deputies then pulled him out.

“They tased him several times, pulled him from vehicle, put him on the road and got on top of him,” said Tammy Dyksma.

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Jones filed a civil-rights lawsuit for excessive force.

It names Harris County Deputies Tommy Pierson, Heath Dawson, William Sturdevant and Sgt. Joe Harmon.

“Once the offender was in handcuffs, I placed a knee on his upper back to ensure he didn’t struggle anymore,” Pierson wrote in his report.

The video shows Pierson place his knee on Dyskma’s neck for nearly 40 seconds.

Once Dyksma was in handcuffs, they moved him and his head was against the road and grass. Pierson placed his knee on Dyksma's neck again, lodging his head against the cement.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s report said, “At various times while he was prone, there was compression applied to his neck and torso.”

“The compression of his airway is in fact the cause of his death,” Jones told Lucie.

“He ain’t responding to that at all … wait till EMS gets here. We’re not getting any pulse on him,” the deputies can be heard saying on the video.

After Dyskma’s limp body was on the side of the road for more than 10 minutes, the video shows the deputies finally move him.

“He’s getting cold,” said one of the deputies on the video.

Pierson wrote in his report that after they moved him, “I made sure the offenders head was in a position so that his airway was open.”

Pierson is the same deputy investigators charged for sexually assaulting women he pulled over.

“What else are these guys doing out there? What’s going on in Harris County that they are getting away with this stuff? What other things are happening? It could be anybody’s kid,” Greg Dyksma said.

Lucie reached out to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which referred him to the county attorney John Taylor, who told Lucie over the phone, “The Harris County Sheriff and I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on potential or pending litigation.”

The GBI said this case has been handed over to the District Attorney’s Office.

Their report shows the manner of death is homicide. The cause of death reads “Sudden death during an altercation with law enforcement, after deployment of an electro conductive device, with prone positioning, compression of the neck and torso and acute methamphetamine intoxication.”

Dyksma's parents told Lucie that their son struggled with meth, but said that doesn’t mean he had to die during a chase.

They told Lucie they want justice for the recent high school graduate.

“I want them to incarcerate them and put them away to where they can’t hurt anyone else’s children,” said Tammy Dyksma .

Greg Dyksma said every morning, he and his wife wake thinking it’s a bad dream.

“He wasn’t doing anything to those guys, and he hadn’t committed a crime. They killed him and I’ve got a problem with that and they should be held accountable,” Greg Dyksma said.

Their attorney wants the civil case to be handed over to a jury.

“You shouldn’t run from the police, but the police shouldn’t kill people for trying to run from them,” Jones said.

Pierson is facing four charges including felony sexual assault, tampering with evidence and two stalking charges.

He is scheduled to go on trial in early April.

Cox Media Group