Houston Police Officer Drowns Trying to Get to Work During Harvey

Source: Houston Police

A Houston police officer died early Sunday morning after driving his car into flood water during the devastating Harvey storm.

READ: Hurricane Harvey Displaces 30,000 In Texas

Sgt. Steve Perez was 60-years-old and had worked for the department for 34 years. According to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Perez left his house at 4:00 a.m. to head to his duty station downtown. He soon discovered that he did not have a path to get there.

Perez tried for two and half hours before calling a supervisor and telling him he was going to report to his secondary duty station.

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Perez never showed.

After contacting his family, survivors set out a search team. They determined that he was probably at Hardy Toll Road in Houston, according to Acevedo. A dive team was called, but the operation had to be put on hold because of conditions on Monday night.

The team found Perez' body on Tuesday morning. The sergeant had drowned to death.

According to Acevedo, Perez’s family, including his wife and father-in-law, urged the 30-year veteran not to go to work. Perez's response was, "We've got work to do."

Source: Click 2 Houston