AUSTIN, Texas — A grand jury on Monday indicted a Texas sheriff on charges accusing him of destroying or concealing video in an investigation into the death of Javier Ambler, a Black man who died in police custody last year.
Williamson County records show Sheriff Robert Chody is facing a third-degree felony charge that is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He was booked into his jail Monday on a $10,000 bond.
In June, Williamson County prosecutors announced an investigation “involving possible tampering with evidence” following the 40-year-old Ambler’s death in March 2019. Ambler died after Williamson County sheriff’s deputies repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe.
Travis County prosecutors are separately investigating the use of force in Ambler’s death.
Williamson County deputies attempted to pull Ambler over on March 28, 2019, near downtown Austin because he failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic, according to a report first published by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV. The deputies were being filmed for A&E Network’s real-time police show “Live PD,” a feature of the arrest that prosecutors said was particularly troubling.
Court records show Chody is accused of destroying or concealing recordings “with intent to impair their ability as evidence in the investigation” into Ambler’s death. Chody said he never tampered with evidence and accused prosecutors of bringing the case to a grand jury to save their political careers and hurt his own chances of keeping his job.
Chody, who said he would not step down while under indictment, said “Live PD” was never contacted by prosecutors for footage during the initial investigation.
“From the beginning, the Ambler incident has been hampered by prosecutors failing to act and then attempting to pass off responsibility,” Chody told reporters a few hours after his release from jail.
The booking photo posted by the jail shows Chody wearing a suit and a smile, standing in front of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office logo.
Jeff Edwards, an attorney for the Ambler family, released a statement saying the alleged destruction of evidence is behind the “slow pace of justice in this case.”
“It seems the Sheriff was more interested in being part of a reality television program and providing entertaining video content than protecting the lives of Black citizens he was sworn to protect,” the statement read. “If true, such shameful behavior by a law enforcement leader is striking evidence that there needs to be a sweeping, systematic overhaul of our system of policing.”
Police body camera video of Ambler’s death shows the gasping 400-pound man telling the deputies that he wants to comply with their demands but that he can’t because he has congestive heart failure.
“I am not resisting,” Ambler cries. “Sir, I can’t breathe. ... Please. ... Please.”
Investigators with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department of internal affairs determined the deputies didn’t violate pursuit or use-of-force policies. Their report doesn’t indicate whether the deputies were disciplined or forced to take leave.
A&E has said its video never aired because of a policy against showing a death, and it did not keep the footage after it was informed that the initial investigation had closed. A&E said neither the network nor the show’s producers “were asked for the footage or an interview by investigators from law enforcement or the District Attorney’s office.”
About the Author
