Tragedy struck yesterday in Missouri City, resulting in the deaths of a local mother and her 16-year-old son. The victims have been identified as Angela Stewart, 53, and Mason Stewart. According to KPRC 2, their vehicle was struck by a Missouri City police officer responding to a robbery call.
In a statement obtained by ABC13, authorities mentioned it was Mason's 16th birthday, who had recently received his driver's license and was driving when the accident occurred. The officer was traveling eastbound in the 16-1700 block of Cartwright Road, when leaving a Dollar Tree parking lot, the officer's patrol vehicle T-boned the Stewart's car. Witnesses reported a loud sound at the scene, followed by the sight of the police cruiser catching fire after the collision.
Adding to the complexity of the case, police found an unidentified man in the back of the crashed cruiser more than two hours after the accident. "That really got to me. Three and a half hours later they just now find him? That means they didn't check if anyone was in the car," Kenneth Mitchell, a witness at the scene, told ABC13. The condition of the man found in the backseat was not immediately known, and it remained unclear how long he had been there or why, as it breaches policy to transport individuals in the cruiser whilst responding to another call.
The involved officer, who has been with the Missouri City Police Department for just under a year and came from another agency with two years of experience, was taken to a hospital but later released. Onlookers shaken by the event, the officer's cruiser's lights and sirens' status during the accident was also under investigation. Missouri City PD Chief Brandon Harris confirmed that an investigation into whether the officer’s lights or sireals were activated at the time of the crash was ongoing, as per KPRC 2.
Authorities, alongside the Texas Department of Public Safety, are conducting an investigation not only into the circumstances of the crash but also into the robbery incident which precipitated the tragic series of events. The Missouri City Police Department is asking anyone with information pertaining to the ATM robbery to come forward and contact them directly at 281-403-8700.
