“They violated their own no-chase policy by pursuing me. They set up a road block. When I stopped, they shot me in the face with a shotgun. (12 gauge buckshot, not a beanbag).”
Schantz said after they realized the Sheriff may have committed a possible attempted murder, all of the deputies erased their dash camera footage. He said the proof is found in the Georgia State Bureau of Investigations’ own report. He also doubts the deputies’ contention that each and every one of their cameras only malfunctioned on the video which would have shown the sheriff shooting an unarmed man in the face.
“Per the GBI report, 7 cars had running dash cams. EVERY single one stated their cams ‘malfunctioned.’ The truck that would have captured the shooting on video was supposed to have 8 segments of video but only 7 were recovered. They have before the shooting and after. They deleted the video of the shooting.”
The young man, who admits he made a mistake when he ran, says the FBI has now taken over the investigation after the GBI predictably failed to recommend charges be filed against Sheriff Deloach. He also says police stole his iPhone and his Apple Watch.
“They kept my Apple Watch & iPhone out of fear that I was recording. (they said they lost my property).”
Schantz contends the police were criminal in their behavior—first in attempting to murder him, and second in stealing evidence related to the crime. He is now suing. When asked how difficult his recovery was he said:
“Pretty rough to be honest. I developed severe post traumatic stress disorder. My jaw had to be reconstructed. (I had) 3 teeth implanted. Plus I still have 3 pellets in me.”
The young man said he was unarmed, had no warrants for his arrest, and believes Sheriff Deloach abused his badge when he attempted to kill him for fleeing from the officers. Adding insult to serious injuries, Schantz was charged with felony eluding, posted $17,000 bail, and is due in court on December 5.
“I certainly realize I shouldn’t have ran. It was stupid. My problem is them shooting me for running away. Then covering it up by lying and deleting videos.”
Sheriff Benny left office in January after serving Baxley for 20 years—the maximum number of years under Georgia state law that a sheriff can hold the position. It is highly unlikely such a popular sheriff will ever see a day behind bars for shooting Schantz in the face, but at least the record will show—if the young man’s allegations are proven true in a court of law—he nearly killed a kid for running from Johnny Law.
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