A 21-year-old Montgomery County detention officer was killed Saturday afternoon when his motorcycle collided with an SUV at a rural Austin County intersection, the sheriff's office confirmed. Anon Vaughn Hoffman of Montgomery had served with the agency for two years, a role his colleagues say he loved.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety information reported by KHOU, Hoffman was riding a 2024 Harley-Davidson southwest on FM 2754 around 1:05 p.m. Saturday when the crash happened at the FM 2502 intersection in Austin County. A preliminary DPS investigation cited by the station found that Hoffman had stopped at a posted stop sign before entering the intersection, then failed to yield the right-of-way to a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas traveling southeast.
Hoffman was ejected from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene, the same report states. The Volkswagen's 49-year-old driver and 17-year-old passenger reported no injuries but were taken to Mid Coast Medical Center-Bellville for evaluation as a precaution, per the same account.
As reported by FOX 26 Houston, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced Hoffman's death in a social media post and said he had proudly served the agency for two years in a role he loved. Hoffman was remembered by colleagues, friends, and shift mates throughout the sheriff's office, according to the outlet's reporting. The agency has not released additional details about how or why the crash occurred.
A Family Deeply Tied to the Sheriff's Office
The loss carries an added weight inside the department: Hoffman's father serves as a sergeant with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and his mother works in the agency's central jail records division, FOX 26 Houston reported. Hoffman himself was a detention officer with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. The agency is budgeted for more than 1,000 employees, including about 580 sworn peace officers, making it the seventh-largest sheriff's office in Texas.
Under Texas Transportation Code § 545.153, an operator approaching a stop-sign-controlled intersection must stop and yield the right-of-way to any vehicle that has already entered the intersection or is close enough to present an immediate hazard, according to Justia Law. That statute forms the legal backdrop for the failure-to-yield finding in DPS's preliminary investigation, though a final determination has not been released.
Part of a Grim Statewide Pattern
Hoffman's death adds to a sobering statewide trend. About 37 percent of motorcycle fatalities happen at roadway intersections. Texas recorded 557 motorcyclists killed in 2025, an average of about two rider deaths a day.
The Houston-area nonprofit The 100 Club lists Montgomery and Austin among its 18-county core coverage area and separately describes an extended coverage area of 13 counties. The organization provides immediate financial disbursements and long-term aid specifically to families of officers killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.
