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Mailbag: Reader with criminal history threatens violence over unflattering story

Chris Graham
dylan harvey
Dylan Gregory Harvey. Photo: ACPD

Should really take it upon yourselfs to take down this before I choose to sue this corrupt corporation I have a daughter and don’t know where you got your information from but whoever did give it to you lied too you this happened over a year ago because me and my father got into a disagreement and my grandmother who has Alzheimer’s decided to call the police cause she has no concept of how the world works anymore and hasn’t for years but I do have a daughter and and work for a good business now and choose to live at peace with my decision of the day maybe you should think bout it as well before I take it upon myself to sue your fraud news corporation.

Dylan Harvey

This was in the email box this afternoon, and because the person writing has obvious trouble with basic communication, I had to guess that he was referencing an article about some sort of police report that he considered unflattering.

I searched the name, and, bingo, this came up, from April 6, 2023:

A shelter-in-place alert has been in place in the Greenwood area in western Albemarle County for several hours on Thursday as authorities search for an armed man said to be going through a mental health crisis.

Dylan Gregory Harvey, 23, was the subject of a 911 call at 1:46 p.m. Officers initiated a conversation via phone with Harvey and his family in an attempt to have him return to the residence.

After it was determined that he was not returning to the residence, the PD determined the need for a shelter-in-place alert.

At approximately 3:01 pm, ACPD issued that alert for a 3-mile radius of the 1000 block of Greenwood Road as units searched the area for Harvey. At approximately 4:14 pm that radius was expanded to 4 miles.

Those within four miles of the 1000 block of Greenwood Road are strongly encouraged to shelter in place, which means conditions outside are unsafe and a higher degree of protection is likely available inside and individuals should be on alert for unusual activity.

Harvey was last seen wearing a black tank top, tan shorts and cowboy boots, and he is suspected to have a firearm.

Anyone who sees Harvey should call 911 immediately.

The report came from a bulletin from the Albemarle County Police Department, which was reported upon by several local news agencies, because of the obvious nature of what we were being told.

Now, we also – as did the other local news agencies – updated the original report after Albemarle County Police let us know that they had lifted the shelter-in-place order, “based on information gathered during the investigation into this incident” that the PD had “no reason to believe Dylan Gregory Harvey is a danger to the public,” according to an update to the original bulletin.

So, there, them’s the basics.

I wrote Mr. Harvey back to ask him if, in threatening legal action against me, he was disputing the fact that the Albemarle County Police had issued the shelter-in-place report related to him on April 6, 2023, because I could report to him that, in fact, the ACPD did issue a shelter-in-place alert related to him on April 6, 2023, and given that fact, “threatening to sue over information that is factually correct is a waste of your time.”

This started a back-and-forth in which Harvey repeated, several times, the threat to sue, despite having no grounds to sue, then seemed to straddle the line of threatening to sue to threatening to do something else.

“Now I’m focused on your name and image with how you handle things now give you the chance to do what’s right by your family as well.”

Now, it would appear, things are getting serious, because a quick search of the name “Dylan Gregory Harvey” on the Virginia Judiciary Online Case Information System 2.0 website reports that our Dylan Harvey is due in court next week, related to an incident dated June 23, 2024.

On Monday, Oct. 7, Harvey is due in court for a status hearing on two charges of assault and battery against a family member, one count of pointing/brandishing a firearm and one count of violating a protective order.

And then on Wednesday, Oct. 9, Harvey is due in court for a status hearing on a charge of buying a gun after having had a protective order issued against him, which the court system website notes was amended at a Sept. 3, 2024, hearing from possession of a firearm after having had a protective order issued against him.

I’m not entirely comfortable having a guy facing a slew of charges involving violence against family members, including pointing/brandishing a firearm, telling me in an email that he’s “focused on (my) name and image” and that he’s giving me “the chance to do right by (my) family.”

If that’s not a threat of violence, man, it sure feels like it to me, as did this follow-up email from Harvey.

You didn’t get your ass whoop much as a kid did you cause I did not have  ever been in fights cause I have just remember I’ll see you in court don’t think you won’t if it comes down to defending my side of the story false accusations and documents are a very serious crime.

Yep, I’m having to report this to the Albemarle County Police Department.

Just another day in the life of a journalist.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].