Cop driving to robbery with emergency lights off slams into car, killing two, TX cops say
.png "A Texas mother and her teen son are dead after a police officer crashed into their vehicle while responding to a robbery call with his emergency lights turned off, officials say.")
A Texas police officer has been relieved of duty amid an ongoing investigation into a crash that killed a 16-year-old and his mother, officials told news outlets.
The Missouri City Police Department officer, 27-year-old Blademir Viveros, was responding to a call about an armed robbery at an ATM when he crashed into a vehicle pulling out of a Dollar Tree parking lot, on the night of Thursday, June 20, KTRK reported.
Investigators with the state Department of Public Safety say Viveros was driving over the speed limit with his emergency lights turned off, the station reported. Missouri City police said the victims’ vehicle failed to yield right of way.
In addition to the investigation by the state Department of Public Safety, Missouri City police are conducting their own internal probe, MCPD said in a news release, KPRC reported.
“At this stage of the professional standards investigation, the primary officer involved in the accident has been relieved of duty. The Missouri City Police Department wants to assure the public we are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of the community we serve,” the statement read.
The two people killed were later identified as Angela Stewart, 53, and her son Mason Stewart, officials told KHOU.
It was Mason’s birthday, his father, Rodney Stewart, told the station. When his wife and son didn’t come back from the store, he got worried, started looking for them and arrived at the scene of the crash, he said.
“I was just tracking my son’s phone. I checked to see why they were gone so long,” Rodney Stewart said. “He died on his birthday, man.”
More than two hours after the crash, investigators discovered there had been a man in the back seat of Viveros’ patrol vehicle the entire time, KPRC reported. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment, but police have not said what he was doing in the SUV, or why he was there while Viveros was responding to the robbery, which goes against department policy.
Missouri City is a roughly 20-mile drive southwest of downtown Houston.