SUGAR LAND, Texas — A Sugar Land city employee was killed Wednesday after burglary suspects slammed into his work truck during a police chase. The chase led Missouri City police through multiple jurisdictions before coming to a devastating end.
The scene near the intersection of Highway 90 and Gillingham was closed off for nearly 10 hours. It's an indication of the intensity of the crash. Joseph Aponte, 56, died in the crash. Three burglary suspects will be heading to jail once they get out of the hospital, police said.
The powerful impact left two vehicles mangled -- police said one of them belonged to a trio of suspected burglars and the other to an innocent City of Sugar Land employee.
"It's kind of all hands on deck when something like this happens," Sugar Land Police Chief Mark Poland.
Around 10:30 a.m., a chase that started in Missouri City and cut through Stafford ended with devastating consequences. Police said Aponte died when suspected burglars ran a red light and crashed into his truck.
"We owe it to the victim's family to do everything we can to put every single piece of what happened here back together again. And regardless of how much time that takes, we’re going to do it," Poland said.
Missouri City police started chasing the suspects after spotting two vehicles they believe were used in a residential burglary. One of the cars was stopped in the Houston area the driver was arrested, but the other car led police on a chase.
"As soon as they tried to stop the vehicle, it fled. It fled through Stafford into Sugar Land," Missouri City Police Department Lt. Jeff York said.
Aponte had to be cut out of his work truck, and despite life-saving measures from other city workers already in the area, he didn't make it. Police said three suspects were in the crashed-out vehicle and two had to be extricated.
"They are still being evaluated at the hospital. The suspect that we caught in the second vehicle that went into Houston is currently in custody," York said.
Since it's a multi-jurisdictional incident, Missouri City police said they'll handle any burglary charges and Sugar Land police will handle scene reconstruction and additional charges.
"So, absolutely we will be pursuing murder charges. One hundred percent," Poland said.
The Missouri City police department said that since they are still putting everything together, they can't say if the incident fell in line with its police pursuit policy.
Aponte, 56, had worked with the City of Sugar Land for about a year.
Here's the update police gave at the crash scene: