Kimberly Ezike left Harwin Drive with a broken leg, a car shoved over the curb into an electrical pole, and a compensation claim the city later denied. Houston police suspended the officer who hit her for one day. Less than two months after the crash, that same car — listed in city documents as repairable — sold for $10.
ABC13 reported that a TxDOT crash report places the collision on August 26, 2024, on Harwin Drive near Gessner Road. A Houston police officer struck Ezike from behind. She suffered a broken leg and other injuries, and the car was towed to a storage lot contracting with HPD.
Slowed Down, Then Hit
The crash report says Ezike first thought she was being pulled over and slowed down. She then realized the officer was trying to get around her and tried to turn into a parking lot before he hit her. She told ABC13 he hit her very hard, at high speed. An officer at the scene said the car was being towed for the investigation. City documents confirm she did not want it towed.
A One-Day Suspension, Then Immunity
Disciplinary documents obtained by 13 Investigates show Houston police suspended the officer for one day for failing to use caution. Ezike filed with the city's legal department for the damage to her car and her medical expenses. Records show the department denied the claim.
The city told ABC13 it denied the claim on immunity grounds because the officer was answering a burglary call, and said Ezike reported seeing his flashing lights. A one-day suspension for failing to use caution, and a denial that treats the same drive as protected official duty, now sit in the same file.
Worth $10 on the Auction Block
HPD told ABC13 it notified Ezike that the car was being treated as abandoned and set a deadline to pick it up. Her account does not match that paperwork. She said she was waiting for permission to retrieve the car and was ready to pay the storage fee. She said a city adjuster told her it was still part of the investigation, and that she learned months later it had been deemed abandoned. She did not consider it abandoned.
The car went at the HPD Auto Dealer's Vehicle Auction for $10. ABC13 reported that HPD's abandoned-vehicle auction rules allow a sale on that timeline. HPD's Auto Theft Division says it auctions unclaimed vehicles held at state-licensed storage facilities under Chapter 683 of the Texas Transportation Code, and that registered owners and lienholders are notified of a pending sale.
What left with the car was not just metal. In 2024 Ezike used it as transportation, a place to stay between homes, and storage. Inside were clothing, housewares and her mother's ashes. She told ABC13 the car was worth $10 to the people who sold it.
Two Thousand Claims, No Reversals
On September 24, Mayor John Whitmire said the city was "in the process of going through them, looking for other special circumstances." He put the stack at about 300 claims. The Houston Chronicle reported he said Houston would change how it handles claims from people whose property city employees damage.
The legal department has since described a larger pile. It told 13 Investigates it is reviewing 2,000 claims going back to July 2023 — and that it has not reversed any previously denied claim. ABC13 said the city had been asked for a mayoral interview for nearly two weeks.
The payout record is thin on either recent cut of the numbers. ABC13 has reported that Houston paid, on average, one in every four property-damage or personal-injury claims against HPD since 2024. A separate ABC13 analysis found 23% of more than 300 HPD-related claims filed since 2024 were paid. From 2022 through May 2024, 886 vehicle-damage claims were filed against city agencies, and 17% were paid.
A New Car, After the Cameras
There is a recent case in which the city did move. University of Houston student Abigail Trujillo's car was damaged by police gunfire during a July 2026 Highland Village shootout. The Chronicle reported the city rejected her claim, taking the position that it was not liable for totaling the car and would not help replace it. After that case drew attention, ABC13 reported, the city revisited it and gave her a new car.
Ezike is still paying to get around. She told ABC13 she has spent two years on Metro Lift and taxis since the crash, and that she wants her independence back. She described herself as an ordinary person who had been enjoying her life. The review Whitmire announced is still a review. Her denial, on the legal department's latest account, is still a denial.
