A Houston police officer died today after crashing his squad car late Tuesday on the North Freeway feeder in north Houston.
The officer, identified as Eydelmen Mani, 30, was rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center in critical condition about 11:30 p.m., police said. He had been on life support.
Investigators said the officer was northbound on the feeder road when he apparently lost control of his cruiser, hit a sign and then slammed into a guardrail. HPD officials said Mani was trying to catch up to a chase of an auto theft suspect when he crashed.
Officials said it was too early to determine how fast Mani was traveling at the time of the accident, but noted the cruiser’s front seat was broken by the impact.
Mayor Annise Parker said at a news conference this morning that the hospital had stopped using aggressive tactics to save Mani’s life. She visited his wife last night at the hospital at 1:30 a.m., about an hour after she was informed of the accident, she said.
Parker noted that Mani had gone through 100 units of blood and had been administered last rites, but she urged city employees and police to replenish the blood supply in his honor, something she said his fellow officers had already begun to do.
“I will ask you to join me in a moment of prayer for Officer Mani, for his wife, for his extended family here and for all of our men and women in the Houston Police Department,” she said, leading City Council in a moment of silence.
Parker said Mani has a three year-old son.
The officer joined the Houston Police Department in 2003.
