Houston police are awaiting autopsy results in the death of a male found at 150 Chenevert Street about 2:10 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 21).
The identity of the male, believed to be in his 40s, is pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
HPD Special Investigations Unit Sergeants M. Glover and E. Wohlgemuth reported:
Last Wednesday (Dec. 18) at about 9:45 p.m., a Houston police officer assigned to the Mental Health Division parked his marked police vehicle, a Ford Explorer, at the above address and concluded his shift. The officer returned to work on Saturday (Dec. 21). When he approached the same patrol vehicle at about 2:10 p.m., the officer opened the front passenger door, which was unlocked, and found items – that were not his – on the front seat. The officer then found an unknown deceased male in the back seat, prisoner cage, of the vehicle.
The male appeared to be homeless and was possibly attempting to get out of the elements.
A preliminary investigation revealed the male was not arrested by HPD. It appears he entered the patrol vehicle and locked himself in the back seat, which is designed so that prisoners cannot open it from the back seat. The male appeared to have attempted to forcibly crawl through the rear of the cage and into the back cargo area of the vehicle, where it appears he became constricted.
The mileage of the patrol vehicle was checked and it was confirmed no one else had driven the vehicle since it was parked on Wednesday.
Anyone with additional information about this incident is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division’s Special Investigations Unit at 713-308-3600.
JFC/SOA 12-23-24
Inc #176885024