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Former Mathis police chief Roush arrested on 9 felony charges

Roush was fired after accusations surfaced that drugs were missing from the police station's evidence storage.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Former Mathis Police Department Chief Marshall Scott Roush is facing nine counts of felony evidence tampering charges after accusations surfaced that drugs had gone missing from the station's evidence lock-up earlier this month, said San Patricio County District Attorney Sam Smith.

He is being held on a $250,000 bond for all the counts.

Roush was the only person assigned a key to the storage room during his time as chief. He told 3NEWS that he believes the drugs are just lost in the messy room, one he says has been a problem since before he took over as chief.

"There's open narcotics just laying around on the floor with no tags or bags," he said in early February. "It's in poor shape. And inside I have been the biggest critic of that evidence room since I have started. I don't believe there's any drugs missing at all, I just think you can't find it because of the clutter and the condition of the evidence room."

Roush was Mathis' police chief for almost five years. Lt. Guillermo Figueroa is now the acting chief.

It is unclear whether the missing drugs will have any effect on any of the department's open drugs cases. 

Smith now has 90 days to indict him on the charges, but said he believes it will be done sooner.

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