AUSTIN, Texas (AP), July 9, 2020 — A black man died in custody last year after sheriff’s deputies in Texas repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe, according to recently released police video and documents.
Williamson County deputies attempted to pull 40-year-old Javier Ambler over on March 28, 2019, near downtown Austin because he failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic, according to an exclusive report by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV.
Police body camera video of Ambler’s death, released to the Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act, shows the gasping 400-pound (180-kilogram) man telling the deputies that he wants to comply with their demands but that he can’t because he has congestive heart failure.
Ambler had been driving home after playing poker with friends when Williamson County Deputy J.J. Johnson spotted him with his headlights on high.
A white Williamson County sheriff’s deputy arrived with a “Live PD” crew and shoved his Taser into Ambler’s back.
