Houston news: Houston Police Department night-shift officers were sent about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to Fondren Road and Richmond Avenue after a disabled vehicle blocked the intersection. A single occupant was asleep behind the wheel, and the encounter ended with a rollover crash a few hundred feet away on Richmond Avenue.
Police said the driver resisted when officers tried to open the driver’s side door. They also reported smelling alcohol at the scene, then disabled the car’s push-button ignition before the driver restarted it and drove off.
Fondren Road and Richmond Avenue
Houston Police Department officials said the car traveled only a few hundred feet before hitting a large oak tree in the 9200 block of Richmond Avenue and rolling over. The driver was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital with serious injuries, and no officers were hurt.
“The driver then restarted the vehicle, shifted into gear and accelerated away.” That sequence matters because investigators said speed was a factor in the crash, which turned a disabled-car call into a serious injury case in seconds.
Ben Taub Hospital
HPD officials said the case could lead to driving-while-intoxicated charges, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will be contacted for review. Investigators said alcohol remains under investigation, so the crash has not been narrowed to a single cause.
Authorities also said they do not yet know why California voter registration forms were in the car. Christian Hudspeth, listed as Logistics Coordinator, was included in the article credit line.
Harris County District Attorney’s Office
The remaining question is whether the driver’s condition came from alcohol, something else, or a mix of factors, because that review will shape the case that follows the crash on Richmond Avenue.
