Body camera footage from an Austin Police Department officer

A Texas sheriff has been indicted on felony charges of tampering with evidence in the case of Javier Ambler, a Black man who was killed by police last year during a traffic stop that escalated into a high-speed chase caught on film by a reality television show.

Sheriff Robert Chody, who turned himself in, was arrested and booked on Monday. He was released shortly after posting $10,000 bail.

The Williamson County grand jury indictment accuses Chody of intentionally destroying or concealing video and audio recordings of the fatal encounter, which was filmed for the television show Live PD.

Jason Nassour, a lawyer with the county attorney’s office, was also indicted on the same felony evidence-tampering charge.

According to the indictment sheriff’s deputies J.J. Johnson and Zach Camden first tried to pull Ambler over for allegedly failing to dim his headlights. But the routine stop became a 22-minute car chase with a helicopter and the television crew in tow. During the chase, Ambler struck a number of vehicles and eventually disabled his own. By then, the pursuit had crossed over into Travis County.

Body camera footage (above) from an Austin Police Department officer, offers a disturbing record of Ambler’s final moments: The 40-year old postal service worker was tased four times as pleaded repeatedly for officers to stop. He repeatedly cried out in agony, telling the deputies he suffered from congestive heart failure and exclaiming, “Save me. I can’t breathe.”

He died at the scene, where Chody and Nassour were also present. Read more at WBHM

Click here for PEN’s previous news regarding this story