Javier Ambler, a 40-year-old black man, died during an arrest in 2019 after being immobilized with multiple electric shocks and warning officers that he could not breathe.
A Texas county has reached a $ 5 million settlement with the family of Javier Ambler, a 40-year-old black man who died during an arrest in 2019 after warning police officers that he could not breathe, authorities have reported.
In a statement posted on its official Twitter account, Williamson County, Texas, said the settlement had been approved by the County Commissioners Court.
“The county will pay approximately 1.6 million dollars and the rest will be paid by county insurance,” it was noted.
The Commissioners Court approved a settlement in the Javier Ambler lawsuit of $5 million. The County will pay approx. $1.6 million with the remainder paid by the County's insurance.
— Williamson County (@wilcotxgov) December 14, 2021
Ambler died on March 28, 2019, after a car chase that began after the 40-year-old failed to dim his headlights in front of oncoming traffic, according to a police report.
Williamson County deputies, who were accompanied by a television camera crew during the chase, pursued Ambler for more than 20 minutes from Williamson County to the nearby city of Austin.
After Ambler was detained, authorities restrained him and immobilized him with multiple electric shocks, as shown in body camera images previously released by Austin police and seen by our sister network NBC News.
The video also showed Ambler warning authorities that he could not breathe.
Ambler’s family filed a manslaughter lawsuit last year, alleging that sheriff’s deputies had launched a reckless manhunt to produce entertaining television for Live PD .
In a statement on Twitter Tuesday, Edwards Law, the firm representing the Ambler family, said they had “reached an agreement that sends the message that ignoring pleas from a person who cannot breathe”.
In a separate statement to the Austin American-Statesman, attorney Jeff Edwards also said that “while the Ambler family remains devastated by the loss of their son and beloved father, they are proud to have fought for him.”
According to the newspaper, the settlement is due in 14 days, and Ambler’s two children will receive $ 1.5 million each and their parents $ 1 million each.
In March, a grand jury charged former Williamson County agents James Johnson and Zachary Camden with second-degree murder in Ambler’s death.
At the time, attorneys for Johnson and Camden denied that their clients were responsible for his death.
They also objected to claims that Ambler had been arrested for failing to lower his headlights, claiming that he was prosecuted for a “felony evasion of arrest in a vehicle.”
Ambler died of manslaughter, according to a custodial death report filed with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The report notes that he died of congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity, in combination with forced restriction.