PEARLAND, Texas - In June, Pearland lost its first police officer in the line of duty in over 40 years.
The officer was 30-year-old Endy Ekpanya. He was days away from his birthday and his first anniversary with the department.
“That death rocked our police department, greatly affected our community, and neither of those were affected as much as his family,” said Captain Chad Randall, with the Pearland Police Department.
That’s why his wife, Lucy, is trying to prevent something like that from happening again.
She stood with representatives from several area law enforcement agencies as well as community organizations during a press conference about the dangers of drunk driving.
“Endy was directly taken away from me because of someone’s reckless actions. Because of somebody who did not think to put the lives of others as a point of importance,” said Lucy Ekpanya.
The driver responsible for the crash, Amber Willemsen, was drunk. Willemsen has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Now, law enforcement agencies are urging others to think twice before making the same mistake over the Labor Day weekend, which is a no refusal weekend.
“They will find you if you are suspected of DWI, they will arrest you, and we will prosecute you. I don’t know how else to say it or how else to educate you,” said Allison Baimbridge, with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
If the no refusal weekend isn’t reason enough, the officer’s widow is appealing to the heart.
“His life was cut short because of a drunk driver. If anything is gathered from this, I’d really like to reach out to see and feel my pain. Knowing my son is going to have to grow up without his father around is something so big. No amount of love or support from the community can replace that,” said Ekpanya.
DPS released some sobering statistics during the press conference.
In 2015, there were 1,400 wrecks caused by drunk drivers in Houston alone; 214 people died in those accidents and another 77 people were injured.
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