Ex-police officer faces additional charges in kidnapping case

By Rick Brundrett - The (Columbia) State

COLUMBIA -- A former Columbia police officer and state probation agent faces more charges stemming from a two-state kidnapping and hostage case that could put him behind bars for life.

David Dietz, 25, made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Macon, Ga., on charges of kidnapping, carjacking, use of a firearm during a violent crime and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum life sentence. The other charges carry a total maximum penalty of 35 years, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald of the Columbia office said.

No bond was set for Dietz, who was being held Tuesday in the Bibb County, Ga., jail, authorities said.

U.S. Magistrate Claude Hicks ordered that Dietz be returned to South Carolina to face federal charges, Hicks' spokeswoman Connie Lassiter said. It was unclear Tuesday how soon that would occur.

Meanwhile, a Lexington County judge Tuesday set bail at $450,000 for Dietz's co-defendant, Jamie Lynn Burgess, 17, on 11 charges out of West Columbia.

Georgia FBI spokesman Steve Lazarus initially told The State Tuesday that federal charges likely would be sought against Dietz for firing shots at two FBI agents at the start of the approximately 12-hour standoff. But he said later Tuesday that no federal charges were filed by Georgia authorities for Dietz's initial hearing.

If no federal charges are filed by Georgia authorities, Dietz will be returned to South Carolina to face his federal charges here, McDonald said.

McDonald said he didn't know whether Dietz will be tried first on federal or state charges, though he added, "usually, in past experience, the federal prosecution goes first."

The Lexington County resident faces five state counts in Morgan County, Ga., of aggravated assault, said Tom Davis, special-agent-in-charge at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's regional office in Milledgeville, Ga. Each count carries a sentence of five to 20 years in state prison, he said.

Dietz is accused of firing shots at Madison, Ga., police officers, Morgan County Sheriff's deputies and Georgia state troopers, Davis said.

In West Columbia, Dietz and Burgess are each charged with two counts of kidnapping, eight counts of assault with intent to kill and one count of carjacking, city police Maj. Jackie Brothers said.

Dietz also is charged in West Columbia with possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and impersonating a police officer, Brothers said.

The most serious charge kidnapping carries a maximum 30-year sentence on each count.

Dietz, who worked as a Columbia police officer and state probation officer in 2006 and 2007, and Burgess are accused of abducting Allim David Dietz, 7 months, and the child's mother, Eva Arce-Perez, 29, Saturday night from a North Lucas Street duplex.

David Dietz is the father of the child, and Arce-Perez is his ex-girlfriend, Brothers said Tuesday, though she added investigators have not established the nature of the relationship between Dietz and Burgess.

A relative of Arce-Perez reported Dietz shot at eight relatives during a confrontation before the abduction, then sped off with the woman and the child in a stolen silver Ford Explorer with the help of a teenage girl, Brothers said.

Dietz at the time was wearing a black uniform emblazoned with the word "police" and also had some type of badge, Brothers said.

An Amber Alert was issued, and Dietz, Burgess, Arce-Perez and the boy were located Sunday night at a Red Roof Inn in Madison, Ga., about 60 miles east of Atlanta, authorities said.