UPDATE: Officer Bretches’ trial has been set for 04/08/2024 and should run about 4 weeks
UPDATE: Originally, Officer Greg Gentry was being charged alongside his partner Officer Bretches. Greg’s charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Chance’s trail date has not been set yet.
On March 28th, 2019, Officer Chance Bretches and his partner Officer Greg Gentry were assigned to a Street Narcotics Unit in a rough part of town. Less than 24 hours before, a drug dealer had shot someone in this same neighborhood, so the Street Narcotics Unit was out in force in response to that violent shooting. They didn’t want a drug turf war to heat up and spiral out of control.
It wasn’t long until undercover officers in street clothes observed a man named Paul Mannie with a silver Chevy pickup. As Mannie sat on the tailgate of the Chevy, transients would approach him. Then Mannie would open his hand and give them a white rock-like substance — which is exactly what crack cocaine looks like. The undercover officers observed this happening repeatedly and it was pretty good evidence that Mannie was dealing drugs.
At this point, Officer Bretches and Officer Gentry were ordered to detain Mannie and another man with Mannie for further investigation. Chance, Greg, and another officer approached the Chevy by car, jumped out, and identified themselves as police officers.
They ordered Mannie and the other suspect to put their hands behind their backs so they could be handcuffed. The other suspect with Mannie complied and did what the officers asked him to do. But Mannie didn’t do what the officers ordered and instead began physically resisting arrest. In fact, it appeared Mannie slipped drugs in his mouth to destroy evidence. (Keep in mind that Mannie was a big guy, 6’1” and 200 pounds of solid muscle.)
Chance and Greg got Mannie on the ground, but Mannie fought hard to keep his hands free and avoid being handcuffed. Together, Chance and Greg struggled to subdue Mannie. They were especially worried that while Mannie was face down on the ground and his elbows were out, his hands were underneath his body down by his waistband where they couldn’t see them. Was Mannie reaching for an unseen gun that could be used to wound or kill them?
If they waited to find out, they could die.
In such dangerous situations, police officers are taught to use Department-approved techniques to apply force to bring the situation under control. Chance and Greg had to use these Department-approved techniques to bring the dangerous situation to a safe ending. The whole fight took 72 seconds. After they secured Mannie, EMS was called and Mannie was taken to a hospital so he could be checked out. The toxicology screen found Mannie had PCP in his bloodstream. PCP can make people “inhumanly strong” and resistant to pain.
That explains why both Chance and Greg sustained abrasion injuries wrestling Mannie. Thankfully, Chance’s injuries weren’t permanent and he recovered. Chance and Greg did everything they could to subdue Mannie with the least amount of force necessary. They did everything according to their training.
Because Mannie put up fierce resistance during his arrest that required the use of compliance techniques, the Police Department conducted an investigation– the entire incident was caught on the body camera video– and determined that Officers Bretches and Gentry were well within the policy guidelines.
The whole ordeal should have been over. But then Austin got a new radically leftist District Attorney named José Garza. Though Chance and Greg had been cleared of all wrongdoing, Garza wanted to flex his muscles and make an example of them. So District Attorney Garza went to a grand jury and pushed them to indict Chance and Greg for aggravated assault by a public servant…
…with a life sentence if convicted!
Please help Chance Bretches as he and his family face a tough road ahead. Your gift will help Chance fight back against a socialist District Attorney who thinks his job is prosecuting cops and freeing criminals.
