It took Sacramento deputies 3 home visits to find body. Now an investigation has been launched
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has launched an internal affairs investigation to review the actions of deputies who went to a home twice and spoke to a suspect before a third visit led to the discovery of a man who was stabbed to death.
The body of 53-year-old Dan Richard O’Riordan was discovered on the morning of May 12 at the home in the 1300 block of Rowena Way, just north of Hurley Way in Arden Arcade. Deputies found and arrested the suspect, Thomas Dwayne Grant, 40, within blocks of the home, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The deputies’ three visits to the Rowena Way home all occurred that morning before 10 a.m. Deputies initially were called to check on the well-being of a person at the location.
Deputies spoke to someone who was on the porch “and it appeared everything was okay,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rodney Grassmann said Tuesday in a written statement to The Sacramento Bee. He did not say who the deputies spoke to in their first visit or what was the nature of the call for service.
Later that morning, deputies were called by someone at the home, identified as Grant. Grassmann said the deputies spoke with Grant and then left the location.
At 9:51 a.m., sheriff’s dispatchers received a phone call from someone at the home reporting there was a male on the floor who was was “unresponsive and appeared deceased,” Grassmann said. Deputies and homicide detectives then went back to Rowena Way.
Sheriff’s officials have said O’Riordan was unresponsive when deputies arrived and had suffered at least one stab wound. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District medics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.
“Understanding this was a homicide and that our deputies had previously been at this location and contacted the suspect, we took the initiative to start an internal affairs investigation (On May 12, 2022) as to the actions of our deputies prior to the arrest,” Grassmann said in the written statement. “We are investigating to make sure our deputies acted appropriately when contacting Thomas Dwayne Grant. This administrative investigation will reveal if everything was done appropriately.”
In a news release announcing Grant’s arrest issued the day after the fatal stabbing, sheriff’s officials did not indicate deputies had been at the Rowena Way home twice before and had spoken to the identified suspect in the homicide. Sheriff’s officials last week also did not disclose an internal affairs investigation had been launched. News of the internal affairs investigation was first revealed this week in a report by FOX 40.
This week, Grassmann said the Sheriff’s Office could not release any further details because the homicide remains an “active criminal investigation awaiting court proceedings” and there “is a parallel administrative investigation” into the actions of the deputies.
Grant on Thursday remained in custody at the Sacramento County Jail. He is being held without bail.
