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Reckless Alabama cop identified in the death of electrical lineman, White father of four, Andrew Schwam
Original Story: Electrical lineman, White father of four struck dead by reckless cop allegedly speeding in a work zone
Update: 4/19/23 11:00: Blount County Alabama Sheriff, Mark Moon, has taken to Facebook to accuse the Justice Report of lying, claiming our highly credible findings are just “slanderous lies.” While Mark Moon appears to have time to engage in an online smear campaign against citizen journalists, it’s curious to point out that, so far, no apologies or condolences have been made publicly to the Schwam family.
Blount County, Alabama – The identity of a Sheriff’s Deputy whose reckless driving allegedly led to the death of a father of four has been positively identified. After obtaining an official incident report which had been improperly redacted by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), the Justice Report was able to confirm Charles Franklin Allen Moody (Badge #126) of Hayden, Alabama as the officer involved in the tragic death of Andrew Schwam.
On March 18th, Andrew Schwam—an electrical lineman who was repairing a downed communications line—was horrifically killed after a previously unidentified Blount County Sheriff’s Deputy was allegedly speeding in a 15mph residential zone. The officer’s rate of speed was so fast, it kicked up the downed line, struck Schwam, and sent him flying 37 feet before he landed on his head, killing him instantly, according to an eyewitness.
Since the incident, the Justice Report made several attempts to reach the Blount County Sheriff, Mark Moon, for more information, but were denied at every turn. It wasn’t until a publicly available “Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report” was obtained did we discover the culprit.
While some of the information in the crash report was meant to be hidden, in a shocking discovery, it became apparent that the ALEA failed to properly redact sensitive details about the parties involved. The Investigating Officer, which the document lists as John A. Mahler, applied a series of black bars over the classified information in the document, but never scrubbed the information underneath.
After opening the report in a web browser, it became apparent that any user could highlight the text behind the redacted black portions of the document. The underlying text was never removed, and when the text was copied and pasted into another field, it gave the Justice Report access to the reckless driver’s name, address, license plate number, and much more.
“CHARLES FRANKLIN ALLEN MOODY,” read the now unredacted report. “Place of Employment: Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Oneonta AL.”
Alongside the name of Schwam’s alleged killer, we also received a clear view into the bureaucracy behind the Blount County Sheriffs Department’s systemic coverup of the events. According to investigator Mahler, the Sheriffs Department initially hand-waved Schwam’s death as an “incident” and not the criminal investigation that many in the community—including Schwam’s own family—demand. Furthermore, the ALEA was only notified of Schwam’s death six days after the incident had occurred. The hesitation to take Andrew’s death seriously may have delayed the Schwam family from receiving a death certificate, the sole document needed to finally lay him to rest.
“The Blount County Sheriff’s Office did not report this crash to ALEA to be investigated as a traffic crash, and instead investigated it as an incident,” read the Narrative section of the report. “On Friday, March 24th, 2023, ALEA- Highway Patrol and the reporting Trooper were made aware of the details of this event and began a traffic crash investigation.”
“On 3/28/2023, the reporting Trooper traveled to the scene and took photographs of the area. He then traveled to the Blount County Sheriff’s Office where Unit 1 (Deputy Moody) was inspected and photographed,” The report continued. “After inspecting Unit 1 and documenting the area of damage, it is the opinion of the reporting Trooper that at the time Unit 1 was crossing over the cable, that it (sic) was being manipulated in some manner.”
According to social media accounts owned by Blount County Sheriffs Deputy Charles Moody, the 34-year-old officer comes across as a stereotypical member of law enforcement. A Locust Fork High School graduate and a former MP for the United States Army, Charles Moody is an avid 2nd amendment supporter, tactical gear aficionado, and video gamer. At the time of publication, Moody sarcastically lists his current place of employment as part of a “Goon Squad” for a “Government Agency.”
On his main page, Moody often shows solidarity with fallen officers across many departments and jurisdictions, including the FBI. These thoughtful memorials come in the form of “thin blue line” posts made to his Facebook feed. While Moody appears to openly advocate for fallen officers online, he has remained dynamically silent when it comes to the victim of his own alleged negligent driving. To this day, there has not been a single apology, sincere condolence, or post made to honor the now-deceased family man, Andrew Schwam.
Deputy Moody is not alone in his campaign of silence. Joining him in support is Blount County Sheriff, Mark Moon. Despite a whirlwind of anger hurled at him from locals eager to see justice for Andrew Schwam, the department has, so far, failed to address the incident in any official capacity. The only time that Sheriff Mark Moon has ever brought up Schwam’s death was on Facebook, where he seemed to mock and downplay the concerns of his constituents, and urged people not to believe things they were seeing on TikTok.
Sheriff Moon, of course, was referring to Schwam’s sister, Savannah Schwam, who tearfully went public with the news of her brother’s death on social media. The video had gained thousands of views and comments of support before it was deleted.
“He landed head first, instantly crushing his skull and causing irreversible brain death,” Said Savannah via the now-deleted TikTok. “The Sheriff’s Department is claiming that they’re not liable and that their officer was not speeding. They’ve offered no condolences, and there is no media coverage of this. My brother deserves justice.”
When one citizen criticized Moon’s tone-deaf response to Savannah’s plea, the Republican Sheriff replied on Facebook saying “We’re glad you moved out too. Especially if you’ll believe a TikTok video like it’s the gospel.”
While the death of Schwam has only filled his family and friends with rage and frustration, Sheriff Moon continued to exacerbate the issue online by snidely attempting to make himself out to be the victim of online abuse.
“So many people love to ridicule and criticize from the sidelines behind the safety of their keyboards,” said public official, Mark Moon, in a now-deleted personal Facebook post. “Some things that people are brave enough to say on social media might have gotten them into a tight spot if they said them to someone’s face.”
During the Justice Report’s original conversation with the Blount County, Alabama Sheriff’s Department, officials claimed that “Investigators looked at multiple cameras and video from several businesses in the area. There appears to be no wrongdoing on the deputies part. He appears to be driving well below the speed limit.”
However, this claim appears to be an outright lie as the area where Schwam was killed is a completely residential zone, with only a middle school down the road which could possibly fit the controversial Sheriff’s narrative.
According to Schwam’s family, the horrific injuries Andrew sustained also don’t appear consistent with the department’s claim that the car was going “well below” the speed limit of 15 mph. “Almost every bone in his body was either fractured or broken,” said Porsche Schwam in a previous interview with the Justice Report. “He flew 37 ft in the air. They’re lying. ‘Well below’ 15 miles an hour doesn’t do something like that. His injuries say otherwise.”
“Some things that people are brave enough to say on social media might have gotten them into a tight spot if they said them to someone’s face.”
Blount County, Alabama Sheriff Mark Moon, Facebook
While the community now has access to more information surrounding the death of Andrew Schwam, the questions have only multiplied. When will Sheriff Mark Moon criminally charge Deputy Charles Moody for negligence which may have led to the death of another human being? When will the video Sheriff Moon alluded to being in possession of be released to the public? Will Moody, Moon, or anyone from the Blount County Sheriffs’ Department offer their sincere condolences to the Schwam family?
The Justice Report’s investigation into the death of Andrew Schwam is ongoing and this article will be updated as new details emerge. We urge all who can help financially support the Schwam family in their time of need to consider doing so.
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