Pearland officer killed in head-on car crash
PEARLAND, TX (KTRK) -- A Pearland police officer was killed in a head-on car crash Sunday morning.
Police tell us Endy Ekpanya, 30, was responding to a non-emergency call Sunday His lights and sirens were not on which is standard at 3:15am. His police cruiser crashed with a silver sedan near the intersection of Country Club and Broadway.
The driver side of the officer's car was crushed. Officer Ekpanya had to be extracted from his car and was unresponsive. He was taken by medical helicopter to the hospital, where he died.
The female driver of the sedan also had to be extracted. She was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and is expected to survive.
"Currently we suspect intoxication may be a factor on the part of the person who ran into the officer," a police spokesman said.
Ekpanya's aunt Ina is just heart-broken.
"I just remember him being just a sweet nephew, a sweet nephew," she told abc13.
Ina says he wanted to be a good role model to his son and his community. He became a police officer, she says, because he loved helping people.
There were no witnesses to the crash.
DPS is now investigating the crash to see what exactly happened. They will be reviewing the officer's dash cam video to see if there are any clues there.
Pearland hasn't had an officer killed in the line of duty in around 40 years.
Ekpanya leaves behind a 2-year-old son and a fiancee.
