PEARLAND, Texas -- A rookie Pearland police officer en route to a non-emergency call died early Sunday in a "catastrophic" collision with a suspected drunken driver.
The accident happened around 3:15 a.m. at Broadway and Liberty in Pearland. The officer was driving eastbound at a normal speed without lights or sirens when a woman driving westbound in a gray Chrysler SRT slammed into the driver's side door as the patrol car slowed to make a turn.
A person driving by the wreck found the officer pinned unconscious in his car and called 911.
The officer, identified as 30-year-old Endy Ekpanya, taken to an area hospital by helicopter, where he died around 4 a.m. The woman, suspected to be intoxicated, is in serious condition, police said.
"To lose any officer, it's a complete devastation," Pearland PD PIO Jason Wells said, adding that it's been about 40 years since an officer in the department was killed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Pearland Police Department are investigating.
"These things take time to get all the data out of there to make sure we have the correct information," Lt. Craig Cummings with the Department of Public Safety said. "The officer like all of us came to work that night, expecting to go home, expecting to save lives, and Instead, he lost his own life in defense of his community."
Ekpanya had a 2-year-old son and fiance.
"He was a great guy. The Pearland Police Department is devastated right now," Pearland PD Assistant Chief Johnny Speirs said. "It's just going to take us some time to work through the process."
Copyright 2016 Houston Chronicle
Tribune News Service
