What began as a complaint about a neighbor revving a vehicle inside a California mobile home park turned into a dangerous confrontation when a 22-year-old man armed himself with a sword, challenged a sheriff’s deputy and was ultimately shot before being arrested.
The Incident Optic YouTube channel released body camera footage from the August 3 encounter in Rosamond, California, showing Joshua Dribin becoming increasingly agitated after calling authorities about noise near his home.
According to the channel’s narration, deputies had originally been sent to the mobile home park for a fairly ordinary neighborhood dispute. Within minutes, however, Dribin was making threats, retrieving a sword and repeatedly telling the deputy to shoot him.
Complaint Started Over A Revving Engine
The incident began with Dribin calling 911 to complain that a neighbor was repeatedly revving a vehicle near where he lived.
During the call, Dribin said the noise had been waking him late at night and making him increasingly angry.
“Someone’s been waking me up at 10:00 in the night when I go to bed and I’m getting really, really mad,” he told the dispatcher.
Dribin said the vehicle would stop near his home before the driver revved the engine while continuing through the park.
He also admitted that he had already confronted the neighbor and was becoming angry enough that he wanted to fight him.
When the dispatcher asked whether he wanted to file a report, Dribin said yes.
At that stage, the call still sounded like something deputies deal with regularly: a frustrated resident complaining about repeated noise and asking law enforcement to intervene.
What followed was anything but routine.
Deputy Tries To Calm Him Down
Body camera footage shows the responding deputy speaking with Dribin outside the residence and asking for more details about the complaint.
Dribin pointed out the vehicle he believed was causing the problem and insisted the driver was revving the engine deliberately.
The deputy questioned whether the sound could simply have come from the driver accelerating over speed bumps.
Dribin rejected that explanation and said he had already asked the neighbor to stop.
According to Dribin, the neighbor replied that it was his car and he could do what he wanted.
That disagreement appeared to be enough to keep Dribin’s anger building.
He told the deputy that he was “really about to punch him,” then said he wanted to take action that would stop the neighbor from coming near him.
The deputy repeatedly told Dribin that he could not simply attack someone over the dispute.
The conversation is striking because the officer was still trying to redirect the situation toward something manageable. He even said he could speak with the neighbor, which could have ended the encounter without anyone getting hurt.
Instead, Dribin escalated.
“I’m Going To Go Get My Sword”
Incident Optic’s narrator said Dribin’s frustration quickly turned into direct threats.
During the exchange, Dribin announced that he was going to retrieve his sword.
The deputy immediately told him not to do that.
Dribin went back toward the residence anyway.
According to the footage and narration, he then returned carrying a sword and began challenging the deputy.
The deputy repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon while calling for additional officers.
Dribin did not comply.
Instead, he advanced while repeatedly yelling at the deputy to shoot him.
“Go ahead. Shoot,” Dribin shouted several times.
The encounter rapidly changed from a noise complaint into an armed confrontation where the deputy had very little room to work with.
That shift is what makes the footage so unsettling. There was no long buildup involving a serious crime before police arrived; the entire sequence grew out of anger over a neighbor’s vehicle noise.
Dribin Approaches Patrol Vehicle
The body camera shows Dribin continuing toward the deputy while holding the sword.
At one point, Incident Optic’s narrator noted that Dribin attempted to open the patrol vehicle door.
The deputy continued shouting commands for him to stop and drop the weapon.
Dribin responded by telling the deputy to kill him.
“I am going to shoot you. Stop,” the deputy warned.
“Kill me. Kill me. Kill me,” Dribin replied.
At another point, Dribin argued that he had not swung the sword at the deputy.
“I didn’t swing the sword at you,” he said, while also acknowledging that he had moved toward the officer.
The distinction did little to reduce the danger of the situation.
Someone advancing toward an armed deputy with a sword does not need to actually land a strike before the encounter becomes potentially deadly, and the footage shows how quickly the officer’s options were narrowing.
Deputy Opens Fire
The confrontation ended when the deputy fired at Dribin as he advanced.
Dribin was struck but survived.
Once other deputies arrived, officers ordered him to throw the sword away and get onto the ground.
The footage then shows deputies moving in to secure him and begin treating his injuries.
No deputies or other civilians were injured during the incident.
The additional background provided with the footage states that the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Division investigated the shooting, as is standard procedure after a deputy-involved use of deadly force.
The department’s Incident Review Board later determined that the deputy’s actions were within policy.
That finding fits what the body camera appears to show: an officer repeatedly issuing commands, backing through a rapidly escalating confrontation and facing a man who was openly armed with a sword while demanding to be shot.
Arrest Followed The Shooting
Incident Optic reported that Dribin was arrested after surviving his injuries.
He faced several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, resisting a peace officer with force, exhibiting a deadly weapon while resisting arrest, and resisting or delaying an officer in the line of duty.
The case is a reminder of how quickly a low-level complaint can become something far more serious when anger takes over.
Dribin had been the person who called law enforcement in the first place.
He wanted help dealing with a neighbor he believed was deliberately disturbing him, but by the time the deputy arrived and tried to intervene, Dribin’s focus had shifted from solving the problem to confronting both the neighbor and the officer.
What began with a revving engine ended with a sword in the middle of a mobile home park, a deputy firing his weapon, and a 22-year-old man facing serious criminal charges.
The body camera footage makes the escalation unusually clear: the opportunity to calm the situation was there, but it disappeared almost as soon as Dribin decided to arm himself.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
