The Showman Who Won Millions In The Lottery Is Craving For Publicity
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : October 15, 2020Robert Chody was first in 2001 to stand before a phalanx of TV cameras. He and his wife smiled a lot when the Texas lottery gave them the highest ever: $51 million.
“We got calls from people from whom we don’t usually receive calls. There was a mistake. So yes, I believe this would change a lot, “Chody, then a senior police officer from Austin told reporters as to how the new rich will change the lives of the family.
The windfall opened the door for the man who grew up with a single mother in a Florida trailer park to fulfill his childhood heroine dreams. It had happened in recent years, when an officer saved him at 15, from the frightening fists of his mother’s boyfriend, with a camera crew and eager audiences who both love law enforcement as much as Chody had come. Chody has developed a reputation as a social media-oriented lawyer and a desire for celebrities since he won the lottery nearly two decades ago. He quickly left the workplace of patroling.
Austin’s rowdy Sixth Street weekend revellers and began a political career that would lead him to the top police force in a famously hard-fought Texas nation. Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody contrasts dramatically with police officials nationally revisiting policies that lead to lethal violence, affecting colored communities overwhelmingly.
Chody, who became the leading county agent in 2017, has doubled the past of heavy-handed police forces in his department by using TV cameras and social media influence to highlight the work of his officers. His law enforcement brand is obvious as the country faces challenging questions about the form of police collectivizes in America.
Under his administration, the district of Williamson has employed officials with troubled passes and increased significantly the use of force and high-speed chases, all involving Black civilians on a disproportionate basis. His department’s leaders allegedly gave steakhouse gift cards to deputies who they deemed “badass” necessary to use force. The Texas Rangers and local prosecutors are investigating at least five use-of-force cases.
Before the TV reality lenses “Live PD” camera crews watched, much of Chody’s tenure unfolded, and loyal spectators were on display. Chody’s star rose among his fans after modifying the highly-rated software of his suburban region of Austin. They praised a sheriff who was always able to share pleasantries with his audience. They praised his members.
However, when he took the case that was violent and included Amber with his deputies and turned fatally, he was beginning to diminish his star. Following the Austin American-Statist, information from the 2019 death caught in “Living PD” video was exposed to the show that made him a famous individual.
Last month the great jury charged Chody with felony proof that he falsely played a part in destroying the incident’s pictures. Chody declined to breach any regulations and engaged two of Austin’s leading lawyers. He said the charge was part of a policy complot to expel him.
His fans say that Chody has done what they chose to do: maintain a tradition of law and order while introducing a digital forum into modern times, and use modern forensics to solve cold cases and deploy smartphone applications for alerting neighborhood criminals. It is a sign of the zero tolerance of crime in Williamson County.
Like some of his county fellow Republicans, critics of Chod say he uses public offices to slacken his popularity hunger. They claim that his enthusiasm in the spotlight produced a poisonous and fuel combination that fostered aggressive police practices, internal upheavals, and the number of complaints by aggrieved former workers and harassed residents against the Department and the County.
As Chody faces reelection next month, he faces an allegation not only of a crime but also of broken ties with local Republican officials and supporters, many of whom requested his resignation. And the specter of more criminal claims arises as the District Prosecutor of Travis investigates further reports of evidence in the Ambler case.
On the day of the trial of two Ambler deployed deadline strikes while the man begged for his freedom, Chody downloaded a 5-minute video of the social media. Inside his police SUV, he choked back tears. While he was on the tragic scene all night, he didn’t mention Ambler. Instead, he updated his viewers enthusiastically to find the deputy from Florida who almost 35 years ago changed his life.
Chody reveals with the aid of the Live PD fans that he found in 1984 on the trailer of the family outside Orlando the name of the officer to save his mom from an abusive boyfriend. He was motivated to become an officer at that moment, said he. Chody told me, his voice cracking. “I want him to realize the effect that he has on me. “But that’s a huge thing for me, and I want him to know it.”
Chody’s dad died when Chody was eight and left his mother in the Orlando suburbs to raise four children. She stepped shortly into his life seven years later. On that day, Chody said that his mother’s boyfriend started to beat her and his twin brother.
“I told the story 100 times, and it’s not exactly true to any of it that I found out, but I’ll tell you the accuracy, and this is the sense of protection that I have,” he said. Deputy Peterson retired from Lake County, Florida, claiming he barely remembered his family that day.
Now 65-year-old Peterson is living in Tennessee. Last spring, he told him that a teenager he once contributed was a famous Texas sheriff. “You don’t know how, when you’re doing your job, you will change someone’s life,” Peterson said recently.
The sheriff shared the moment in a video with his 35,000 Facebook followers when Chody and Peterson met personally in Knoxville Cheddar’s restaurant on 2 August 2019. Chody is a wise man and understands his responsibilities. He is living a decent life with his family and making the most out of every moment.
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.