Dashcam records moment HPD cruiser hits, kills cyclist in northeast Houston

HOUSTON – A driver’s dashcam recorded the moment a Houston Police Department cruiser hit and killed a cyclist Tuesday on a northeast Houston street.

The crash was reported just before 9 p.m. on Wayside Drive near Joy Street.

Video of the crash was recorded by a dashcam in a car that was parked at a store near the scene. The video showed the cyclist crossing the street just before the HPD cruiser, which did not have its lights or sirens activated, hit him, sending him flying.

New information from Houston police released late Wednesday morning said preliminary investigations indicate, "the bicyclist failed to yield the right of way prior to entering the intersection and being struck."

In a statement, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the crash investigation "will include a complete review of the department policy and traffic laws relative to actions of the responding police unit and the bicyclist.” 

VIDEO: Dashcam video of deadly crash involving HPD cruiser

The cyclist, who was identified by family members as 29-year-old Dwayne Foreman, died at the scene.

“This one officer, he was going so fast,” said Dante, whose dashcam recorded the crash. He did not provide his last name. "He had to be going about 70, and he hit the young man on the bicycle. From how the accident happened and the way he hit him, it’s just no way he could’ve seen him."

HPD Assistant Chief H.W. Gaw said the two officers who were in the cruiser were responding to a suicide call when the crash happened. He said the department’s vehicular crimes unit is trying to determine what happened and who is responsible for the crash.

“That’s all under investigation,” Gaw said. “Code 2 calls, you do have to get there quicker than normal, and lights and sirens, that is the option of the responding officer if they feel the need, and if they do that, they will announce that to the dispatchers so that the other units know that’s how they’re coming."

Spokesman Dane Schiller with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office released a statement that read, “We will independently review all the evidence, and, as is consistent with our policy for all traffic fatalities, will present this matter to a grand jury for consideration.”

Foreman's family returned Wednesday to the place where he died. 

“I didn’t know that that was going to be the last time I seen my baby,” said Catrennia Sauls, Foreman’s mother. “I come out here and my baby is laying right here and I know he was gone.”

Sauls believes if the officer’s lights and sirens would’ve been on, her son would still be alive.

“I think if they had the lights on, my baby would’ve stopped cause he would’ve said, ‘This man is going too fast,’” said Sauls. “I’m not angry. I think they need to be more responsible.”

Foreman was a father of a 10-year-old boy and worked fixing cars for people in the neighborhood. 

“You can’t get mad because things happen, but he(the officer) should’ve been paying more attention,” said Marshall Sauls, Foreman’s stepfather.