Veteran Houston Police Officer Among Victims of Hurricane Harvey

While liberal swine like a now former University of Tampa professor were doing their victory dance that Houston deserved the destruction of a killer hurricane, the human toll is slowly beginning to emerge from the besieged city.

Like when Hurricane Katrina led to the flooding of New Orleans back in 2005, it took some time before the number of victims of the storm could be determined. The same will be the case in Houston where it has yet to stop raining in a weather incident that invokes visions of a biblical plague straight out of the book of Revelation.

Sadly, one of those who has been identified is a 60-year-old police officer who was on his way to do his job on Sunday morning when his patrol car was engulfed by the rapidly rising waters depriving the city of a dedicated veteran with 34-years of experience on the job.

Sergeant Steve Perez died in the line of duty after spending hours trying to get into the station where he could join other law enforcement professionals in laying it all on the line for the public at their most dire hour of need.

The grim news is reported by the Houston Chronicle “Houston Police Sgt. Steve Perez drowns in Harvey floodwaters”:

His wife warned him not to go. He insisted.

Steve Perez, a 34-year Houston police officer, drowned in his patrol car in Harvey floodwaters, a tearful Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday afternoon.

Perez, days shy of his 61st birthday, was in his patrol car driving to work downtown Sunday morning when he got trapped in high water.

Acevedo said Perez left home at 4 a.m. and spent more than two hours trying to get to his duty station in downtown Houston. When he could not find a path, he followed department protocol and tried to report to the nearest station, in Kingwood.

When he did not arrive for regular roll call Monday, officers called his wife, who said she had not seen him since Sunday. They narrowed their search to the Hardy Tollway and Beltway 8, Acevedo said.

Acevedo, with tears in his eyes, said officers believed they had found Perez on Monday night but could not recover his body.

“We could not put more officers at risk for what we knew in our hearts would be a recovery mission,” he said. Search and rescue crews, including a dive team and a “Cajun Navy” member, recovered his body from an underpass on Tuesday, Acevedo said.

Acevedo called Perez “a sweet, gentle public servant.”

Thoughts and prayers should go out to the family of Sgt. Perez and so should respect for all of the rest of the professional public servants in Houston who are selflessly engaged in the ongoing rescue efforts in this ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

Sgt. Perez exemplified the best of the best and should serve as an inspiration to all in this horrific time of despair in southeast Texas for his dedication and perseverance to duty.

He gave everything that he had and should always be remembered as one of the true heroes whose names never end up being inscribed on statues but whose lives have been devoted to the highest cause of all, keeping our society safe and free.

May he rest in peace now that his watch has ended.