Former CMPD officer wants ankle monitor removed, but his ex fears ‘retaliation’
A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer accused of harassing his ex-girlfriend in Rock Hill wants a judge to have an ankle monitor removed, even as the victim claims she remains afraid and has filed a civil lawsuit against him.
The victim said in York County criminal court Thursday she opposes Dylan Lineberger having the monitor removed because, “I fear he will try to retaliate against me somehow.”
Lineberger is accused of vandalizing her car by throwing Pepto Bismol on it outside a Rock Hill apartment last year, then following her to a Rock Hill Food Lion. Those actions came after days of surveillance and unwanted contact by Lineberger, court records allege.
Lineberger has been free on $10,000 bail with the ankle monitor and a no-contact order toward the victim since Rock Hill police arrested him in October 2024. He was in court Thursday but did not speak.
He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer, Chris Lusk of Columbia, denied the allegations against Lineberger in court Thursday and in a statement to The Herald. Lineberger has no prior criminal record and was a CMPD officer for almost a decade before he was arrested.
Lusk said there is “no evidence” Lineberger has violated bail since arrest.
The Herald is not naming the ex-girlfriend because she has said in court both in 2024 and Thursday she is fearful for her safety.
She told the judge Thursday she filed the civil lawsuit because Lineberger has “been creative in his ability to harass me.”
Prosecutor Alex Harper also opposed any removal of the GPS ankle monitor, saying in court Lineberger’s “level of sophistication” during the harassment led him to find her in another state where he damaged her car and followed her. Lineberger had access to as many as 30 weapons, Harper said.
“I do believe the GPS monitor was a substantial factor in why the harassment stopped,” Harper told visiting Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fant.
Fant has not yet not ruled on Lineberger’s request to remove the ankle monitor.
Exclusive: Lineberger gone from CMPD in April
Lineberger resigned from CMPD in April, six months after Rock Hill police arrested him, according to Lusk and CMPD documents obtained by The Herald in a public records request.
CMPD put Lineberger on administrative leave after he was arrested. CMPD refused to give The Herald the results of an internal affairs probe into Lineberger’s actions while a police officer, citing personnel policy.
Harper, the prosecutor, said Lineberger found the victim in 2024 after the break-up when she moved to Union County, N.C., then after she moved to Rock Hill.
Civil lawsuit alleges stalking, surveillance
The woman’s lawsuit alleges Lineberger surveilled and stalked her, tried to hack her email, and damaged her property, court records show. She also has a North Carolina restraining order against Linberger, who lives in Lincoln County, N.C.
The lawsuit calls Lineberger’s actions “extreme and dangerous.” The woman also claims that she found a dozen false statements about her online on a trail-walking website as recently as June — eight months after Lineberger was arrested.
Prosecutors said in court Thursday they presently can not say Lineberger posted those online statements. Lusk, Lineberger’s lawyer, said in court there is no evidence Lineberger did that.
Lineberger “falsified emergencies” to try and reach her, according to the lawsuit.
She is seeking punitive and compensatory damages for intentional emotional distress, harassment/stalking, property damage and alleged false statements.
What happens next?
Lineberger has not yet issued a written response to the lawsuit. Lusk said in a statement to The Herald: “Under the Constitution my client is presumed innocent. We look forward to having our day in court to resolve this matter.”
Lusk declined further comment after court Thursday.
The civil case and the criminal case are separate.
The criminal charge against Lineberger is a misdemeanor that carries up to three years in jail for a conviction. No trial date has been set.
