NOT GUILTY: Former Bryan PD assistant chief acquitted on assault charge

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Retired Bryan Police Department Assistant Chief Wayland Rawls was found not guilty Wednesday by a jury in his trial for a 2020 assault charge.

The verdict was handed up less than an hour after the jury began deliberations.

Rawls was represented by attorneys Murray Newman and Cheryl Chapell.

“We truly feel that Mr. Rawls was treated harsher than the average citizen would have been treated in this case because of his position with the Bryan Police Department,” said Newman. “We’re now happy for him and his wife and we are glad the jury agreed with us and vindicated what he said all along, which is that he was acting in self-defense of himself and his wife.”

Rawls was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge in February 2020 following a physical altercation with another man at a fundraiser at Allen Academy. He was off-duty at the time of the incident when he reportedly struck the other man multiple times, but Rawls told police that he was acting in self-defense after the man touched his face.

Not long after his arrest, Rawls retired from his position with the agency.

“He’s now looking forward to the next chapter of his life, although he’s sad that, because of these baseless charges, that career won’t be in law enforcement,” said Newman.

Rawls spent 24 years with the Bryan Police Department before retiring.