CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The three Nueces County jailers indicted last week were booked in the county jail today.
Sheriff John Hooper said 40-year-old William Fielder and 33-year-old Richard Culp surrendered before noon today, and 22-year-old Javier Zapata Jr. was arrested.
All three were given bond of $10,000. All three made bail within a few hours.
The three were indicted on Oct. 17. Nueces County Asst. District Attorney Matthew Manning said the men were charged after being implicated in actions that took place around the time of 49-year-old David Johnson's death.
Johnson died on Dec. 15, 2018. According to Sheriff John Hooper, the Nueces County Medical Examiner ruled Johnson died of natural causes.
All three jailers are charged with tampering with a government record and official oppression. Zapata is facing an additional charge of invasive visual recording.
Zapata was no longer working as a jailer at the time of the indictment. He quit in January before he could be fired. Culp and Fielder were suspended then retrained and reinstated.
Sheriff Hooper says Culp and Fielder will remain on the job at the Nueces County Jail.
