UPDATE: Patton Village sergeant killed in chase through north Montgomery County

UPDATE:June 21, 2016

See related article with funeral arrangements for Sgt. Stacey Baumgartner...

Funeral arrangements for Sgt. Stacey Baumgartner of the Patton Village Police Department

UPDATE:June 20, 2016

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The Patton Village police officer who was tragically killed while pursuing a suspect in North Montgomery County, has been identified as Sergeant Stacey Baumgartner. He responded to the scene of a Valero gas station at the corner of SH 242 and US 59N concerning reports that an individual was urinating in public and exposing himself to customers.

The suspect that led Sgt. Baumgartner on the high-speed chase, has been identified as 29-year-old Garrett William Nee of Kingwood. He was reported as having exposed himself at gas station, which resulted in the call to police. The chase ensued after Nee tried to run over Sgt. Baumgartner.

The 11-year old boy who was ejected from the SUV that broadsided Baumgartner’s patrol car and died at the scene, had been identified as Adan Hilario Jr. The other passengers of the SUV were transported to area hospitals in serious condition. Five others in all, were injured.

Baumgartner leaves behind a wife and a 2-year-old daughter on Father’s Day. The identities of the other innocent people involved in the wreck have not been released.

Nee faces two counts for intoxication manslaughter with vehicle, and multiple charges for intoxication assault with vehicle.

In the small community of Patton Village and the surrounding area, people know their neighbors, and many of them know the officer who lost his life last night in an accident while pursuing a suspect. First responders, both law enforcement and firefighters, were quick to respond in the social media, changing their profile photos to a memorial tribute featuring the Patton Village Police Department’s patch.

“There are no words to describe this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer’s family and our brothers with the Patton Village PD,” posted East Montgomery County Fire Chief Jeff Taylor.

The East Montgomery County Fire Department received the call about the accident with entrapment, within minutes of its occurrence.

Sgt. Baumgartner is the second law enforcement officer in the Greater Houston and surrounding area, to die in the line of duty in a week. Just last Sunday, Pearland PD Officer Endy Ekpanya lost his life in an accident.

The rising death count on Montgomery County roads, predominantly in the north part of the county, has been of great concern to the Department of Public Safety since early April, when the incidence of occurrence started to mount.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - A police officer with the Patton Village police department was killed tonight as the result of an accident during a car chase northeast of The Woodlands.

The chase was heading west on SH 242 from I-59N. The officer’s patrol car was broadsided by a Chevrolet Suburban while pursuing a suspect who ran the red light at the intersection of FM 1485. The force of the crash forced the patrol car into a traffic light pole. The SUV was flipped and rolled over, coming to a stop upside down.

The East Montgomery County Fire Department was called to the scene regarding an accident with entrapment at approximately 8:00 p.m. The officer was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital The Woodlands. It was reported that CPR was administered while being transported to the hospital but the officer was pronounced dead in route to the hospital.

According to the Department of Public Safety’s Trooper Richard Standifer, another one of the victims in the SUV also died at the scene, and multiple individuals were transported to the hospital in serious condition. The suspect doubled back to the scene which Trooper Standifer stated was highly unusual for a suspect to do. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to jail.

The identity of the officer has not been released, but Trooper Standifer said the officer was a sergeant with the Patton Village Police Department, and has a young child, and that his wife is a police dispatcher for the department.

The accident is still under investigation.