Despite an assurance that he had learned his lesson two years ago, Dillon Scott Matney has found himself back in court accused of violent crimes.
Matney was arrested last Wednesday and charged with abduction after Albemarle County police say he held a gun to his wife’s head in front of her mother and threatened to kill her and then himself.
"I will smoke her and then smoke myself," Matney reportedly said as he held a handgun to the head of his wife Brittany Dudley.
Dudley’s mother, Janet Snow, told officers she witnessed her son-in-law’s threatening behavior and relayed her account to Albemarle detective Jordan Weethee, who filed arrest warrants Wednesday against Matney. The 25-year-old Albemarle County man was arrested that day and held without bail on four felony charges: abduction, criminal use of a firearm, possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of ammunition as a felon.
"Prior criminal record includes more than five felony convictions," reads one court document.
Court records show that Mattney has convictions for malicious wounding, unlawful wounding, assault and battery, grand larceny, tampering with a drug test, destruction of property, schedule I or II drug sales, methamphetamine possession, probation violation, obtaining money by false pretenses and giving false identification to an officer.
The last charge involved the same arresting officer, Weethee, who in February tracked Matney over an outstanding domestic assault warrant to the Holiday Inn on Fifth Street south of Charlottesville. There, the front desk clerk reportedly informed police that Matney and a woman were hiding in a female restroom.
"Matney stated that his name was Austin Spencer," Weethee wrote in that criminal complaint. "Matney refused to give his correct name."
Weethee, however, noted that he was able to see past the subterfuge by pulling up a Department of Motor Vehicles file photo showing a pair of distinctive facial tattoos: the number "100" marked under Matney’s left eye and the word "loyalty" inked above his right eyebrow.
"The tattoos were identical," Weethee wrote.
The false identification charge ended with an April conviction and a 30-day suspended sentence. A condition of suspending the entirety of the jail term was that Matney remain for one year on good behavior. However, that arrangement may have been jeopardized by Matney’s behavior on Jan. 3.
On that morning, Matney allegedly went into a Blenheim Road residence somewhere between 4 and 4:30 a.m. and engaged in an argument in his wife’s bedroom, according to the criminal complaint. The incident escalated after Dudley declined to leave with him, and the alleged threat occurred when Dudley’s mother rebuked Matney for the way he was speaking to her daughter.
"Janet reported that Dillon then left with Brittany, and that was when she called PD," Weethee wrote.
Police have provided no details about their apprehension of Matney, other than to say that his victim was safe and that the arrest occurred without incident after an extensive search of the Blenheim premises.
Matney has lived in northern Buckingham County and southern Albemarle County, but his criminal history also includes convictions in Prince Edward County and the city of Charlottesville.
One matter from Matney’s history that could come back to haunt him is his 2021 unlawful wounding conviction in Charlottesville Circuit Court. In that case, he is alleged to have attacked a sleeping acquaintance by repeatedly stabbing him.
"What caused you to wake up?" a prosecutor asked the wounded man at a preliminary hearing.
"Him stabbing me," answered the man.
The prosecution showed the court graphic photos of the man’s injuries and his blood-soaked bedding at a Stribling Avenue residence. A reported eight sutures and more than 45 medical staples were required to close the wounds.
Arguing for leniency, the defense showed the court a letter from the Charlottesville-based Region Ten mental health organization noting that Matney had a history of heroin and methamphetamine use.
"He reports some symptoms of depression and anxiety as well," the Region Ten letter said.
Matney, who may have been triggered by the man’s texted vow to assault him for failing to return a borrowed car, was originally charged with malicious wounding. However, he pleaded guilty via a so-called Alford plea, which does not admit guilt, to the lesser charge of unlawful wounding and received a three-year active jail sentence.
The conviction order signed April 1, 2021, by Judge Claude Worrell demands that Matney remain on good behavior for 10 years or risk a revival of the two years Worrell had suspended.
"I have learned my lesson and am ready to be part of society again," Matney wrote to the court later that year when seeking home release on an electronic monitor. His request was denied.
Shortly before the recent abduction allegations, a probation violation charge was levied in the local Juvenile and Domestic Relations court, where Matney has a recent conviction and a pending case, both for domestic assault. This is the court where three of his four new felony charges will, at least initially, be heard.
In the pending domestic assault case, Dudley accused Matney last February, while the two were at the Days Inn on Emmet Street, of forcibly taking her car after pulling her hair, hitting her head and kicking her ribs.
"He then ripped the keys off her belt loop of her pants and bit her," wrote Charlottesville police officer Michael Darby.
"She does have visible scars on her hand as well as swelling," Darby continued. "There is also what appears to be bite marks on her right wrist."
Darby contemplated but opted against filing a carjacking charge, as the court file shows he crossed out and initialed the redaction. Because the case was marked in the court records as a "first offender," Matney was slated to see the charge dismissed in March of 2025 despite the court’s finding that there were "facts sufficient" to find guilt.
Although currently held without bail at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, Matney appears to have moved in and out of jail multiple times with his most recent stay from Oct. 20 to Nov. 6, according to the jail. Matney will be represented by Mike Hallahan at his next hearing in the abduction case slated for Feb. 12.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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