Grand jury clears two APD officers in August 2020 use of force case
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Two Austin Police Department officers have been cleared by a Travis County grand jury for their use of force in an August 2020 officer-involved shooting.
The jury did not return an indictment for officers Todd Gilbertson and Gordon Neils in the shooting involving Deonte Lee Rogers in East Austin.
Previous booking photo for Deonte Lee Rogers (Austin Police Department)
According to the Travis County DA's office, Gilbertson and Neils were assigned to the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force which was looking for Rogers who had a federal warrant for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and was wanted for questioning in a murder case.
Officers found Rogers in the courtyard of an apartment complex in the 6100 block of Manor Road on Aug. 25, 2020, and Rogers fled, heading for a wooded area behind the complex and rounding a corner.
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The officers followed around the corner and Rogers allegedly fired six shots at them. Gilbertson and Neils returned fire, firing three rounds apiece, says the DA's office, but Rogers was not hit and escaped by jumping the fence on the other side of the complex.
Rogers was later arrested in Northeast Austin and is now serving a 15-year federal prison sentence for firing at the officers.
The DA's office says that since January 2021, 56 cases against police officers have been presented to a grand jury and in 29 of those cases, the grand jury has returned a no true bill.