SUGAR LAND, Texas — The City of Sugar Land is grieving for an employee who was killed in a crash at the end of a police chase on Wednesday.
Editor's note: The above video is from KHOU 11's coverage of the crash the day it happened.
In a statement, Mayor Joe Zimmerman identified the victim as 56-year-old Joseph Aponte, a first responder in the city's Public Works department. He had worked for the city for about a year.
"Our hearts are broken," the mayor said. "Yesterday we lost a valued member of our team in a senseless line-of-duty death."
Zimmerman said stress management teams are available to help city employees as they grieve the death of a coworker.
"He leaves behind a wife, daughter, son-in-law and several other family friends," the mayor said.
The city will help the family cover funeral expenses, along with helping with food, counseling and other benefits, according to the mayor. If you'd like to help financially support Aponte's family, the city has set up a donation website in which you can do so.
"Like the rest of our employees, Joe was a dedicated public servant who made a difference every single day for our community," the mayor said. "He will not be forgotten!"
You can read the full statement below:
"Our hearts are broken. Yesterday we lost a valued member of our team in a senseless line-of-duty death. Joseph Aponte, a first-responder in the fleet division at Public Works, was struck and killed by criminals fleeing from Missouri City police at a high rate of speed. It was the worst day imaginable for all of us. Words can’t describe the tremendous amount of pain and grief we are experiencing. Our Critical Incident Stress Management team has been deployed throughout our city to help our employees work through the trauma we are experiencing. Our Public Works team will be at limited service levels this week while we process through our grief. This unprecedented tragedy has deeply affected our entire organization, but we are rallying together to provide for the needs of his family. He leaves behind a wife, daughter, son-in-law and several other family and friends. We are committed to ensuring that they have the resources necessary in their time of need. This includes food, funeral expenses, counseling, benefits and more. We are utilizing our non-profit employee assistance program to help in any way we can. Members of our community have already asked how they can help Joe’s family, so we have provided the following resource for anyone who would like to provide financial assistance – www.sugarlandc3.org. Like the rest of our employees, Joe was a dedicated public servant who made a difference every single day for our community. He will not be forgotten!"
What happened
Authorities said Missouri City police were chasing three burglary suspects -- a chase that ended in a violent crash on Highway 90 at Gillingham Lane. According to police, the suspects had run a red light, crashing into Aponte's work truck. He died in the crash.
The three suspects were taken into custody and brought to a hospital for treatment. Two of them had to be extricated from their vehicle after the crash.
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.
Authorities said they would seek murder charges in this case.