Police pursuits end with 2 fatalities
Driver charged with murder in wake of crash in Houston
Houston roads, already among the nation’s deadliest, claimed two more victims after separate police chases within 30 minutes of each other Friday night.
The first high-speed pursuit began around 6:08 p.m., when police tried to stop a reckless driver in the 2900 block of Gessner.
Damian West allegedly sped through a red light at the Hempstead intersection, crashing into another vehicle and causing a multicar pileup that left one person dead, according to the Houston Police Department. Police cruisers weren’t involved in the crash.
The victim died on impact, and a female passenger was taken in critical condition to Ben Taub Hospital, police assistant chief Ban Tien said in a media briefing. Other drivers involved in the crash suffered minor injuries.
“This one ended horrifically,” said Tien.
West, 21, was charged with murder and aggravated assault Saturday morning for his role in the wreck. He was discharged Friday night after being taken to the hospital for possible injuries, said Sean Teare, chief of the vehicular crimes division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
The district attorney’s office is pursuing charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and unlawful carrying of a weapon, Teare said, after preliminary findings indicated that West was driving at a high rate of speed to evade pursuing officers. He is due in court Monday, records show.
West was out on $100 bail for a February 2021 misdemeanor weapons charge at the time of the crash.
The second high-speed pursuit played out minutes after the first, when Conroe police attempted to stop a white Buick sedan for an expired vehicle registration around 6:30 p.m. near North Frazier and Hickerson, authorities said.
Fleeing the pursuing officers, the driver sped toward the Conroe-Willis border and ran a red light at FM 830, where officers had to slow for traffic, Conroe police said.
Less than a mile later, officers found the Buick crashed into a large Southern Tire Mart sign. Security footage showed the driver attempting to evade another car when he lost control and hit the 3-foot-wide sign
post, according to police.
The driver died at the scene around 6:46 p.m., authorities said. It took Conroe Fire and North Montgomery Fire crews almost 20 minutes to extract his body from the wreckage.
The man's identity has not been released, pending an autopsy from the Montgomery County Forensic Center.
Area police agencies have reevaluated high speed pursuits in recent decades amid growing public concern about the dangers the chases pose to all involved.
The majority of agencies require their officers to “weigh the need to pursue versus the risk to the public, the officers and the offender,” said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association. “If the risk to the public is greater than letting the person go, that is the balancing test they try to apply.”
The decision to give chase is rarely made solely by the pursuing officers, Lawrence said. As radio technology has improved communication between patrol cars and command centers, supervisors have become more involved in weighing the risks and benefits, he said.
The Houston Police Department's lengthy policy on chases requires officers to weigh such factors as the seriousness of the reported crime, the risk to bystanders and the weather before pursuing a fleeing driver. It also requires the supervisor on duty to be in command, not the officers. The Conroe Police Department's policy on chases was not immediately available Saturday.
While Lawrence was not familiar with the weekend's fatal incidents in Houston and Conroe, he said driver panic is often a factor in routine traffic stops.
“Even if the officers don't pursue, the driver will sometimes try to get away, they lose control, cause a wreck, hurt themselves,” Lawrence said. “That happens more than people realize.”