Services pending for deputy found dead in cruiser
Funeral arrangements are pending for a longtime Harris County Sheriff’s deputy who was found dead late Monday in his patrol car.
Deputy Terry Faughtenbery, 51, who was also a published poet, was spotted about 11:30 p.m. Monday in his patrol car outside a service station in the 6000 block of Highway 90, sheriff ’s officials said.
Faughtenbery, who joined the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 1990, had been inside the store earlier. A customer later approached an employee and reported seeing the unresponsive deputy in the driver’s seat of the still-running patrol car.
The doors of the patrol car were locked and first responders broke open a window to get to Faughtenbery. They were unable to revive him and he died at the scene, officials said.
“It was with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of one of our own,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement.
The cause has not been released but foul play was not thought to be involved. Fellow deputies escorted Faughtenbery’s body to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Faughtenbery was assigned to night shift at the Harris County Sheriff’s Jail at 701 N. San Jacinto when he joined the department.
In 1995, he transferred to patrol duties in East Harris County. He spent 21 years there, also primarily on the night shift, authorities said.
Faughtenbery also mentored new deputies fresh out of the academy in his duties as a Field Training Officer. Many of those deputies would later end up working alongside him.
“The loss of a fellow peace officer is felt throughout our department and throughout the east Harris County community he faithfully served,” Gonzalez said.
In his off-time, Faughtenbery was a published poet whose work explored law enforcement themes, officials said.
Faughtenbery is survived by his father and sister. He was preceded in death by his twin brother, Jerry Faughtenbery, who was also a Harris County Sheriff ’s deputy.