Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced the return of three indictments against three law enforcement officers, arising out of two separate incidents, which were presented to a grand jury and will be prosecuted by the Office’s Civil Rights Unit.
On Wednesday, December 16, 2020, the Grand Jury returned a two-count indictment charging Travis County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Officer Shannon D. Owens with the felony offenses of Aggravated Perjury, Tex. Penal Code § 37.03, and Tampering with a Governmental Record with the Intent to Defraud or Harm Another, Tex. Penal Code § 37.10. Mr. Owens’ case will be prosecuted and is currently pending in the 450th Judicial District Court for Travis County, Texas.
On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, APD Officers Gregory Gentry and Chance Bretches were indicted for the felony offense of Aggravated Assault by A Public Servant, Serious Bodily Injury/Deadly Weapon, a first degree felony under Section 22.02(b) of the Texas Penal Code by the 147th Special Grand Jury – Extended July 2020 term. These cases will be prosecuted and are pending in the 299th Judicial District Court. The 147th Special Grand Jury also returned a no bill on a third officer related to this incident.
“With respect to the aggravated assault indictment, I am grateful to the Assistant District Attorneys who identified potential misconduct and brought it to the Office’s Civil Rights Unit,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. “Holding law enforcement accountable when they break the law is critical to rebuilding community trust, and also to the safety of our community.”
In response APD’s Chief Brian Manley released this statement about the incident involving the two APD officers:
The Austin Police Department is aware that a Travis County Grand Jury indicted Officers Greg Gentry and Chance Bretches for an incident that occurred in March of 2019. Officers were engaged in a drug interdiction operation in response to a recent complaint regarding increased drug activity and recent shooting incidents. Officers observed two subjects, one who appeared to be engaging in multiple narcotics transactions, and approached the subjects to investigate. As officers approached, the second subject was taken into custody, however the subject observed in suspected narcotics dealing did not comply with officers directions and resisted their attempts to secure him in handcuffs. A significant struggle ensued as the officer’s attempted to overcome the suspect’s resistance, resulting in injuries to both the suspect and the officers. The suspect was transported to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. This incident was presented to the Grand Jury and resulted in the two indictments.
This incident was reviewed in accordance with APD policy in 2019 and the officers’ actions were deemed compliant with policy and training. This review included members of the APD Executive Team, the Special Investigations Unit (for compliance with criminal statute), and the Force Review Board (who reviewed the incident from a tactics and training perspective). The Office of Police Oversight reviewed this incident on April 19, 2019, including video of the incident, with members of the APD Executive Team. Additionally, APD staffed this case with the former District Attorney and based on the Department’s findings that the officers’ conduct was within policy, the case was not forwarded to the DA’s Civil Rights Division.
APD respects the role the Grand Jury holds in the criminal justice process and will continue to cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office as needed on this case. As with anyone charged with an offense, these officers are presumed innocent unless found guilty through the criminal process. In respect of their right to a fair trial, we will not be commenting further. Both officers have been placed on administrative duty at this time and will remain in that status through the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
The Austin Police Association also released a statement:
To our Austin Community
As you may have heard by now, two of our officers have been indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury. It is important to lay out the facts, so people have a full understanding of how we got to where we are and why the Austin Police Association is doing what we are doing.
Towards the end of March 2019 (yes, almost 2 years ago), Officers Chance Bretches and Greg Gentry were assigned to the Street Narcotics Unit within the Organized Crime Division. At the time, our city was seeing an uptick in violent crime in North-East Austin, particularly in the Northgate area. Many of these cases had a narcotics component of some sort and officers were responding to an unusually high number of robberies, shootings, and murders. As a result of this uptick, the Street Narcotics Unit was tasked with doing proactive work in the area in an attempt to arrest people who were selling drugs, committing assaults and robberies and any other crimes in the area that might tend to make the area less safe for the community that lives in the area. Specifically, the night before this incident, there was a shooting in the exact apartment complex that this arrest happened.
While working this proactive assignment, Officers conducted surveillance and observed two males who appeared to be engaged in the sale of narcotics. In fact, Officer Gentry personally observed multiple hand-to-hand transactions and officers moved in to effect arrests in this case.
When you get an opportunity to see the body cam video from this case, you will see that one subject is compliant and is taken into custody with minimal issue. The other subject actively resists arrest and while doing so, reaches towards his waistband with both hands. In response to this resistance, force is used to place this individual under arrest. He was charged with and eventually plead guilty to 3rd Degree Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance (crack cocaine) and Tampering with Evidence and is currently serving a 3-year sentence for those crimes.
Folks, this is the ugly part of the job. It never looks pretty when we are put in situations where we must respond to someone else’s force and/or resistance with force of our own. It has never looked pretty, and it never will.
Now that you have the back story, we move on to what happened over the past few weeks. In the first work week of January, we were advised that Former District Attorney Margaret Moore had helped the new DA, Jose Garza, pick a Grand Jury to start the year. We also learned that this case, one where a man pleaded guilty and is currently in the prison for his crimes, was going to be presented to the Grand Jury for consideration of filing charges against our officers.
You see, it is important to understand that when this use of force happened back in March of 2019, it was investigated by our own Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the findings were presented to the Chief. The then District Attorney Margaret Moore was even briefed on the case. The chain of command reviewed the response to resistance like normal and even 6 commanders and an attorney from City Legal on the Force Review Board looked at the case from a tactics/training/equipment standpoint. Chief Manley signed off on the use of force as objectively reasonable as did the chain of command and the investigation was closed. This case was not forwarded to the DA’s office for review because it was clear that through the thorough review, the force used was objectively reasonable.
The facts are there aren’t any policy violations in this case. There aren’t any law violations in this case. The suspect in this case pleaded guilty because the department had overwhelming evidence to convict him of the crime. There is also overwhelmingly strong evidence that the force used in this case was objectively reasonable and by its very definition, did not violate any policy or law of the State of Texas.
So why are we here? The biggest reason we are here is because District Attorney Garza believes his sole role is to prosecute officers. Instead of going after violent criminals who continue to terrorize our city, he uses his time to maliciously prosecute these officers in an attempt to gain political favor from the activist community that he seeks to serve.
Mr. Garza, hear this. The Austin Police Association will not stand idly by while you use the hardworking men and women of the Police Department as pawns in your delusional game of political chess. We will proactively monitor the actions of your office having potential for extreme negative ramifications on our officers and the community in Austin, Travis County. The APA will take an active stance highlighting to the community your anti-police agenda and motivations behind your political decisions to unjustly prosecute officers who were lawfully fulfilling their duties to keep Austin safe.
Signed
The Austin Police Association’s Executive Board
