WILLIAMSON COUNTY (Talk1370.com) -- Two Williamson County Commissioners are calling on Sheriff Robert Chody to resign as controversy swirls over a 2019 in-custody death following a pursuit for a traffic violation.
Commissioners Terry Cook and Cynthia Long both issued statements Tuesday morning calling for Chody to step down. The statements come the morning after allegations were levied by Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore Monday evening that the WCSO has "stonewalled" an investigation into the in-custody death of Javier Ambler in March 2019.
Early on the morning on March 28, 2019, deputies attempted to pull Ambler over for a traffic violation. Ambler refused to stop, leading deputies on a chase for more than 20 minutes before coming to a stop in north Austin. Ambler then got out of his vehicle but refused to comply with deputies' commands to lay down on the ground; at that point, deputies used their Tasers on Ambler. Moore says Ambler was tased a total of four times during the stop. Some time later, deputies noticed that Ambler was unresponsive; he was transported to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.
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Moore says "Live PD" crews were shadowing the deputies involved in the incident and recorded the scene. The footage was never broadcast, and neither Austin Police nor the Travis County District Attorney's Office have been able to gain access to it for their investigation.
Cook, in her statement, said "the results of the last 3 1/2 years of him at the helm are unacceptable." Cook cites a number of lawsuits filed against Chody's department, several of which are "in active litigation and are being found credible." Cook goes on to say she "has no confidence that he has the temperament, operational intelligence, administrative ability nor the people skills to handle the job."
Long released a statement saying she has had "enough." "These actions and results of other actions that are coming to light have shown a callous disregard for the very laws Robert Chody swore to uphold."
WCSO and Chody released separate statements Tuesday morning, both denying the allegations from Moore's office. The WCSO statement says "the Travis County D.A. has not contacted us for any reason related to this investigation. Any attempt to say we have slowed or otherwise impeded the investigation is absolutely false."
Chody, in his statement on social media, dismissed the commissioners' calls for his resignation, saying Long "in her eagerness to 'get ahead of this issue' ... has requested I resign before hearing the full set of facts." Chody goes on to dismiss Cook's criticisms as politics, saying "it is not surprising to me to see a left leaning member of the Court call for my resignation."
Moore shot back at the denials Tuesday, saying she stands by her "represenations regarding the lack of cooperation with" the investigation by her office and the Austin Police Department's Special Investigations Unit.
Representatives for A&E, the network that airs "Live PD", issued a statement on the case Tuesday afternoon. "Contrary to many incorrect reports, neither A&E nor the producers of Live PD were asked for the footage or an interview by investigators from law enforcement or the District Attorney's office," the statement reads. "As is the case with all footage taken by Live PD producers, we no longer retained the footage after learning that the investigation had concluded." The statement ends, "our policies were in place to avoid having footage used by law enforcement against private citizens."