Citizen Report No. 1675390957 - 2112535887

This "incident happened in 2019. It is the eighth pending lawsuit against the county claiming excessive force was used by deputies during the tenure of former Sheriff Robert Chody. ”

“According to the suit, the woman was assaulted and choked by her boyfriend until she was unconscious on Sept. 21, 2019, at her apartment at [Redacted] in Austin. It said a person in her complex called 911. The apartment is in a part of Austin that is in Williamson County.”

“When the woman regained consciousness, her boyfriend had left and she called her sister, according to the lawsuit. When a deputy arrived, she asked if the victim needed help from paramedics and the victim refused, according to the lawsuit.”

“It said the victim told the deputy that she and a man who did not live at the apartment had gotten into an argument. She refused to cooperate in the rest of the investigation and did not want to press charges, the lawsuit said. 

She "made it exceedingly clear that she did not trust Williamson County Sheriff’s Office deputies and that she was not going to cooperate with their investigation, citing previous encounters she had with them in the past," according to the lawsuit.”

“It said Hernandez then arrived at the apartment and told the victim that he and the first deputy who arrived needed to search her apartment to find the woman's boyfriend.

The victim refused to allow the deputies to search her place, saying her sister was inside, the lawsuit said.

It said Hernandez then grabbed the victim by her chin and throat and pushed her backward. She ended up on the ground, "handcuffed behind her back crying hysterically," the lawsuit said.”

“It said that while she was on the ground and being restrained by both deputies, she said, "Please let me get up." She also said, "Please, you're hurting me," according to the lawsuit.

It said Hernandez yelled at her, telling her to quit talking. The deputies then searched her apartment without her permission and without a warrant, the lawsuit said.

It said the events were recorded by body cameras worn by the deputies. Chody's administration investigated the assault and took 10 hours of vacation time away from Hernandez but did not suspend him, the lawsuit said.”

One of Chody's supervisors told internal affairs investigators that he was concerned about what happened to the victim, but a complaint was dismissed, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not make clear if the complaint was made by the supervisor or the victim.

“It said District Attorney Shawn Dick decided to reopen the case after Chody lost his reelection in November 2020 to Mike Gleason. A detective investigated again and found probable cause to charge Hernandez with official oppression and assault causing bodily injury, the suit said. 

Hernandez was arrested on May 17 and released the same day after posting bail set at $10,000.  Both of the charges are Class A misdemeanors and are pending in court.”