The University of Houston Clear Lake police officer died early Monday morning on the Gulf Freeway at Almeda Genoa. It was before 3am when UH-CL Police Officer Joe Segovia was driving on the Gulf Freeway on his way to work, but he never made it.
UH Clear Lake Police Chief Paul Willingham said, "He was certainly a star in the making at the campus police."
Officer Segovia's Scion was hit head on by a wrong-way driver in the southbound lanes of the Gulf Freeway near Almeda Genoa. Houston police investigators say he didn't have time to maneuver before he was hit by the Chrysler 300 going north. The wrong way driver, identified as Arnulfo Cerna, was also killed.
The results of the autopsies on Officer Segovia and Cerna have not been released by the medical examiner's office, and a public information manager says it's too early to know if the pathologist has requested any toxicology tests. There's no word whether Cerna was impaired at the time of the accident.
Officer Segovia's police chief told Eyewitness News everyone in the department is struggling to get through the day.
"He was a super people person, enthusiastic," Chief Willingham said. "He was former military so he was really sharp, loved his family, talked about them a lot."
Officer Segovia celebrated his wedding anniversary with his wife on Saturday. Together, they had nine children. He joined the UH Clear Lake Police Department in January, and had just gotten off of new hire probation.
On Monday, a UH Clear Lake police officer was stationed outside the family home near 610 and Ella, and the department is taking donations to help the Segovia family pay for his funeral.
"There's not a single person in the department that does not know him," Chief Willingham said.
Donations should be mailed to the University of Houston at Clear Lake Police Department, 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Houston TX 77058 and write Joe Segovia Fund in memo section of a check.
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