A state appeals court panel has rejected a claim that a judge erred in denying mental health diversion for a man who was arrested for allegedly pistol-whipping a 71-year-old woman inside a Beverly Grove home and taking a cache of watches.
After the defense’s request for diversion was denied, Dillon Klincke pleaded no contest in February 2025 to first-degree residential robbery and admitted allegations that he personally used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury during the afternoon hold-up Aug. 17, 2022.
Klincke, now 34, is serving a 10-year state prison term.
In a ruling Tuesday, the three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that Klincke “acted in a calculated, despicable and brutal manner.”
“… Klincke committed violent offenses using much more force than necessary to accomplish his criminal ends, displaying a callous indifference to the suffering and physical safety of a much older, vulnerable, elderly victim,” the panel found in its 17-page ruling.
“He credibly threatened to kill her and terrified her. He caused his victim to incur significant injuries by repeatedly striking her with his fists and a gun, including repeatedly hitting her head and face.”
The panel noted that Klincke relied heavily on the testimony of three mental health experts who opined that he would not pose a risk to public safety if he was treated in the community under a mental health diversion program, but the justices added that Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba was free to reject that testimony under the circumstances of the case.
Hundreds of watches were discovered in a storage locker to which the defendant had access, and the victim’s husband identified the watches as belonging to him, according to the ruling.
Klincke — who wore a mask the day of the attack — had previously been to the couple’s home on multiple occasions to buy watches and was familiar with the location of safes in the home that contained the watches, the justices added.
He was arrested late the same evening by Los Angeles police.