Investigation Underway After Man Found Dead in Houston Police Vehicle
HOUSTON – Authorities are investigating the death of a man in his 40s, whose body was discovered in the backseat of a Houston Police Department vehicle on Saturday afternoon.
Details of the Incident
The officer had parked his marked Ford Explorer at 150 Chenevert Street, near the I-69 and Runnels Street intersection, around 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday after finishing his shift. When the officer returned to his vehicle around 2 p.m. on Saturday for his next shift, he opened the unlocked front passenger door and noticed items on the seat that didn’t belong to him. Upon further inspection, he found the man’s body in the backseat, inside the vehicle’s prisoner cage.
Preliminary Investigation Findings
The man, believed to be in his 40s, had not been arrested by police, and investigators suggest he may have entered the patrol vehicle and locked himself inside. The rear cage in the vehicle is designed to prevent prisoners from escaping. It’s believed that the man tried to crawl through the cage to the back cargo area and got stuck.
Police speculate the man, possibly homeless, may have sought refuge in the vehicle to escape the elements. Further investigation revealed that the vehicle had not been driven since it was parked on Wednesday.
