COFFEE CITY, Texas — Another former Coffee City police officer has been indicted after a KHOU 11 Investigation triggered the shutdown of the entire department.
Former reserve officer Christopher Witzel was booked in the Henderson County jail Friday morning, charged with four felony counts of tampering with a government record. The grand jury indictment accuses Witzel of omitting items on his Coffee City job application. Those include failing to disclose prior discipline he received at the Hearne Police Department and a 2009 hit-and-run accident he was involved in. Witzel also omitted that he was detained by the College Station Police Department in 1999 and 2001, according to the indictment.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, TCOLE, requires police agency job applicants to disclose any prior citations, detentions, arrests, convictions and disciplinary actions on their personal history statements. The form contains a written warning: “Be truthful, as there are criminal consequences for lying on a government document.”
TOCLE records show Witzel worked for Coffee City Police from October 2021 until September of this year. That’s when the Coffee City Council shut down the entire department after KHOU 11 Investigates revealed more than half of the small town’s 50 police officers had been hired with troubled work histories.
Witzel’s arrest comes just two days after the man who hired him, former Coffee City Police Chief JohnJay Portillo, was also booked and released on six felony counts of tampering with a government record.
Henderson County jail records show Witzel was released after posting a $100,000 bond. When reached by phone Friday, he had no comment about the charges.
Full three-part investigation and follow-ups
- PART 1: This Texas town has about 250 people. It has 50 sworn police officers.
- PART 2: Caught on camera: Small-town police chief goes on tirade
- PART 3: Coffee City Police Department suspends division after KHOU 11 Investigates questioned its legality
- RELATED: Coffee City police chief suspended after KHOU 11 Investigation
- RELATED: Coffee City mayor ‘shocked’ by KHOU 11 Investigates findings over police hiring practices
- RELATED: In wake of KHOU 11 Investigates reports, Coffee City fires police chief, deactivates police department
- RELATED: Former Coffee City police chief faces felony charges after KHOU 11 investigation