Robert Chody, the Sheriff in Williamson County, Texas, was arrested and charged Monday with destroying footage of his deputies killing Javier Ambler. Ambler, 40, was a postal worker tased repeatedly after a car chase. He died begging for his life. The footage was shot for a reality TV show called "Live PD" and resulted in its cancellation after the scandal emerged. Former Williamson County general counsel Jason Nassour also received the same charge.
The charges were brought following a months-long joint investigation involving the Austin Police Department and the district attorney offices in Williamson and Travis counties. A total of 19 witnesses were brought before the grand jury, said Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick.
"We spent several months putting all this together and presenting a large number of witnesses to the grand jury," Dick said.
A defiant Chody, speaking to the media after he was released on bond, claimed the charges were politically-motivated.
"We're here because it's a month before the election – my election," he said.
It took a year to organize the prosecution: "An internal Williamson County investigation cleared the deputies involved in the encounter of wrongdoing."
As you may recall, TV chiefs finally canceled COPS after the murder of George Floyd by officers in Minneapolis. Think of what got Live PD canceled after a couple of seasons, then imagine the footage COPS has memory-holed from the last 30 years.
