Dave Norton

In 2004, FIB agent Dave Norton makes an off the books arrangement with bank robber Michael Townley in Ludendorff, North Yankton. As Michael, Trevor Philips and Brad Snider flee their failed robbery, Dave's sniper shot meant for Trevor strikes Brad instead. He pretends to shoot Michael, allowing Michael to disappear while Trevor escapes. Brad dies and is buried in Michael's grave. Dave receives credit for killing Michael, while Michael becomes Michael De Santa and moves to Los Santos. When Dave intercepts a letter Trevor sends to the supposedly imprisoned Brad, he answers it as Brad to monitor Trevor.

Nine years later, Michael and Franklin Clinton rob Vangelico Fine Jewelry. Dave visits Michael at his Rockford Hills home, their first meeting since North Yankton, and warns that the robbery could expose Michael to Trevor. Steve Haines then discovers the old Townley case and uses Dave's arrangement with Michael to force him into helping the FIB. Dave tells Michael that cooperation is the only way to keep them both out of prison. He directs Michael through the IAA controlled morgue at Los Santos Coroner's Office, where Michael finds evidence that Ferdinand Kerimov is alive.

Dave joins Haines and Andreas Sanchez as they compel Michael, Franklin and Trevor to extract Kerimov from the IAA headquarters. Haines has Trevor torture Kerimov for information, while Dave accompanies Michael to Tahir Javan's home. The intended target is holding a party, so Dave repeatedly contacts Haines for a description that lets Michael identify Javan. Dave later stands with Haines and Sanchez while they assign the three criminals to steal an armored Securicar carrying IAA money.

After Michael and Trevor take refuge at Trevor's Sandy Shores trailer, Dave and Haines visit Trevor's meth lab. They order the crew to obtain money for an operation against Humane Labs and Research, leading to the Blaine County Savings Bank robbery. At the Humane Labs raid, Haines is angered by the missing extra personnel and takes Dave with Michael into the facility, while Franklin and Trevor handle the vehicles. Haines shoots himself in the leg after the operation to support his story. Dave later learns from Michael that Trevor has worked out the truth about North Yankton and is heading for Ludendorff.

Haines grows worried about evidence linking him to the FIB's crimes. With Dave present, he pressures Michael and Franklin into entering the FIB Headquarters with Lester Crest's help and removing the files. He promises that their work will clear Michael's record, but Dave refuses to release Michael afterward, citing Trevor's attacks on Merryweather. He summons Michael to the Kortz Center with Haines and Sanchez. There, Haines turns on both Michael and Dave, kills Sanchez and abandons them when IAA agents, an FIB team and Merryweather forces close in. Trevor helps Michael and Dave fight their way out, and Dave escapes by car.

Dave later tells Michael that he can blame Sanchez for the operation and persuade the FIB that Dave, Haines and Michael's crew acted under Sanchez's pressure. He remains tied to Haines until Franklin's final choice. If Franklin kills Trevor for Haines, Dave survives with the FIB's version of events intact. If Franklin kills Michael, Dave also survives. In The Third Way, Michael, Franklin and Trevor move against their enemies, and Michael tells Dave that Haines is gone. Dave is left alive after the conflict, still an FIB agent in Los Santos.