Quote:By the by, why would anyone want to carry a living goldfish around a carnival? You can't get on any rides or anything.
Chody was booked in the Williamson County Jail bonded out on Monday with a $10,000 bond.
The charge comes after months of calls for Chody to resign, after the in-custody death of Ambler, which was recorded during a taping of the A&E reality show “Live P.D.” The chase that ended in Javier Ambler’s death was never aired on television and all footage from the scene was destroyed.
The third-degree felony indictment, from the 277th District Court in Williamson County, claims belief that Chody acted to “destroy, or conceal a record, document, or thing; namely, video recordings and audio recordings, with intent to impair their availability as evidence in the investigation.”
Jason Nassour, general counsel for the county, has also been indicted on the same charges related to the Ambler case.
The death of Ambler happened back in March 2019, when WCSO deputies pursued Ambler on a chase after he reportedly failed to dim his headlights for oncoming traffic. The chase led all the way into Austin at around 1:30 a.m.
Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said initial findings in the investigations show that Ambler notified officers he had a congenital heart defect before he was tased four times. In body camera footage from Austin Police Department — who also responded to the scene — Ambler can be heard saying, “I have congestive heart failure,” and “I can’t breathe.”
Moore said in June that the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office “stonewalled” the county’s investigation into the death.
“For the last year, (Williamson County Sheriff’s Office) has stonewalled our investigation,” Moore wrote on Twitter. “What should have been a routine traffic stop ended with Javier’s death,” Moore said.
WCSO responded to Moore’s claims by saying any attempts to slow or impede the investigation are “absolutely false.”
The existence of the missing video is all because of WCSO’s involvement in the now-cancelled A&E law enforcement reality program, “Live P.D.“
A&E cancels Live PD after witnessing man’s death in Austin
According to the show’s production company, Big Fish Entertainment, the show contract stated that the company could destroy any un-used footage within 30 days of filming.
Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said, “To say that this footage does or doesn’t exist — we have no idea. Only the sheriff’s office and ‘Live PD’ truly know whether it exists.”
In June, Chody denied accusations of a cover-up and claimed that the investigation was “motivated by politics.”
On Monday afternoon, Jeff Edwards, on of the Ambler family’s attorneys, released a statement, saying:
“Today, we learned that a reason for the slow pace of justice in this case is that Sheriff Chody allegedly acted to destroy video evidence of Mr. Ambler’s death. 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 the Black citizens he was sworn to protect. If true, such shameful behavior by a law enforcement leader is striking evidence that there needs to be a sweeping, systemic overhaul of our system of policing.”
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/williams...eath-case/
On hiatus.
