HOUSTON – New details were released Thursday in a crash that killed a Harris County deputy Tuesday morning in northwest Harris County.
John Hampton Coddou, a 20-year veteran on the force and U.S. Army veteran, was killed in the line of duty while assisting at a crash scene on the Grand Parkway at Cumberland Ridge Drive when he was struck by an ongoing vehicle. He is survived by his wife and mother.
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New details of the crash released
According to the release, Deputy Investigator Coddou was assisting the minor crash on the northbound main lanes of SH-99 at 9:36 a.m.
He parked his HCSO vehicle on the left shoulder of the road with the right side of the vehicle partially blocking the number one northbound lane while he investigated the crash, the release stated.
The emergency lights on Coddou’s vehicle were activated.
At 9:42 a.m., a white Chevrolet Silverado 2500 approached the crash scene traveling northbound in the number one lane of SH-99, the release read. The driver of the Silverado was reportedly talking on the phone hands-free while he approached the crash scene.
The release stated that the driver “engaged in a faulty evasive action” to avoid crashing into the deputy’s vehicle and drove into the grassy median dividing the northbound and southbound lanes of the Grand Parkway.
Deputy Coddou was standing in the grassy median when he was struck by the front right of the Silverado, the release stated.
The deputy was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center where he died of the injuries he sustained in the crash.
The driver has been identified as a suspect in this case.
The case remains under investigation by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Vehicular Crimes.