HOUSTON — The East Freeway reopened heading inbound following two separate deadly auto-pedestrian crashes, including one involving a police patrol unit, according to the Houston Police Department.
According to Houston Transtar, the inbound lanes reopened at 5:25 a.m. following a deadly crash involving a police patrol unit. The outbound lanes reopened just after 7 a.m. following a separate deadly auto-pedestrian crash.
The first crash happened just after 2 a.m. in the inbound lanes near Lathrop, not far from Wayside Drive.
HPD Assist. Chief Ernest Garcia III said the officer was heading inbound when his patrol unit hit a bump in the road. The officer said whatever he hit, he struck it hard since his airbags deployed.
The officer said the crash startled him, so he stopped on the side of the road to inspect the vehicle. That is when the officer realized there was something on the side of the patrol unit.
Police said the officer then spotted the body in the middle of the freeway. It was not clear what the pedestrian had been doing prior to the crash.
Responders with the Houston Fire Department pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The victim is said to be a man in his 30s.
HPD’s Vehicular Crimes Division is investigating the crash. The officer was responding to a non-emergency call at the time of the crash.
“We never want to see this happen,” Garcia said. “We don’t ever want to see pedestrians crossing the freeway with limited lighting, especially when there is a crosswalk near up right above where the impact occurred.”
Woman dies after being hit by 2 cars on East Freeway, police say
According to Houston Transtar, there is a second crash in the outbound lanes near Wayside Drive that happened just after 3 a.m.
Police said a woman died after she was hit by two cars as she was running across the freeway. Both drivers stopped at the scene.
Police said the victim had crashed her car into a median. The woman and her friend then got out of the car and walked off the freeway towards the service road.
According to her friend, she said the victim was going to try and flag someone down for assistance and ran out into the freeway. That is when she was hit by the two cars.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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