Buncombe County – A formal complaint was filed by a Tribune reporter against a spokesperson for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department, but the investigation found the allegations to be unfounded, despite the existence of a computer-aided dispatch report (CAD) from the Sheriff’s office that seemed to support the complaint.
The complaint was filed in January of this year and related to an incident that occurred during the final hours of December 31st, 2022, at the Buncombe County Detention Center. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Aaron Sarver disputed a report by Skyline News that protesters had blocked the entrance to the Buncombe County Detention Center. The complaint alleged that misinformation was distributed by Sarver about the incident never happening, which was found to be false by an investigation by Lieutenant Joseph Fischbach of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office’s Professional Standards. Fischbach did say though that “there is insufficient evidence to confirm or refute the allegation,” and that “the incident that was the basis for the complaint did not occur or that neither the Sheriff’s Office nor Sheriff’s Office employees were involved in the incident.”
The Tribune had requested a CAD report to verify Skyline’s reporting, but Sarver said that they were not entitled to it as press members. However, the same CAD report was provided to them by the Asheville Police Department. According to the CAD report, the first mention over law enforcement radios was at around 8:35 pm, with the announcement that about “125+ subjects were blocking all entrances to the jail and magistrates office.” Other law enforcement agencies were made aware of the situation, and the event lasted less than an hour, with all units clearing the area at 8:57 pm.
Despite Fischbach’s findings, the Tribune has not been able to reconcile the CAD report with the investigation findings, and has requested the video from Fischbach.