Another LEO killed in the line of duty.
It is reported that it was a diriver distracted by a cell phone.
I am leaving a day early (Today after work) for the truck gathering at this weekend at Rayford so I can be at the funeral for this officer. The funeral is going to be in Spring, TX tomorrow morning at 1100 hrs. (11 am)
Sgt. D. Fauntleroy
EBRSO Reserve Division
Link to story
"Here".
Text of story,
Deputy constable hit by oncoming SUV on tollway diesWestpark Tollway closed for hours
By Jessica Willey
(10/01/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - As friends, family and co-workers mourn, flags are at half-staff at an office for Harris County Constable Precinct 5 and the Harris County Toll Road authority to honor Deputy Constable Jason Norling, who was killed in the line of duty Monday.
The eight year veteran of the force was writing a traffic ticket when an SUV hit him. Norling had pulled a driver over on the Westpark Tollway at Gessner. He was rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he later died. The driver of the SUV was questioned and has since been released.
HPD accident investigators say the driver who hit and killed Deputy Jason Norling was distracted. Neither the police nor the prosecutor on the case would elaborate, but the eyewitness I spoke to says the guy admitted to her he was reaching for his cell phone.
From 6am to 2pm every weekday along the Westpark Tollroad, Deputy Norling was a fixture. He was one of two deputies who patrolled those hours atop a motorcycle. Monday was his last.
"It's going to be sad," said Randy Johnson with the Precinct 5 Constable's Office. "We're going to miss him."
Around 10:15am, Deputy Norling was standing next to the driver's side of a Kia writing a ticket for a traffic violation. He was on the eastbound lanes of the Westpark Tollroad, when investigators say the driver of an SUV apparently didn't see him or the car he pulled over.
"He struck the motorcycle, hit the Kia, then hit the officer and flew him in the air, I understand a pretty good distance in the air," said Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Phil Camus.
It was 90 feet. Those driving up on the accident ran to the officer's aid as the driver who struck him, according to an eyewitness, wandered around and talked to anyone he encountered. The eyewitness does not wish to be identified. He told her, "I was reaching over for my cell phone and I think I killed him. I killed him."
Houston police confirm the driver was distracted. All other conditions were good. The weather was clear and according to his supervisor, Deputy Norling followed policy by pulling behind the car he stopped and activating his emergency lights. Though cars zip all the time as officers do their job on the shoulder, Johnson believes their policy is good.
"Westpark is a controlled access roadway and when you come from Fort Bend County, for instance, it's eight miles to the next exit," he said. "We're not going to follow somebody for eight miles to the next exit."
The 44-year-old driver who hit the officer was not arrested. He has not been charged and because of that, we are not identifying him. We are told he showed no obvious signs of impairment at the scene. He did submit to a blood test. The prosecutor says he will wait for the results before deciding which if any charges are appropriate.
Deputy Norling had been with the Harris County Precinct 5 constable's office for eight years. He would routinely be assigned to patrol the Westpark Tollroad on his motorcycle, looking for traffic law violators. Before joining Precinct 5, Norling worked for the Hempstead Police Department. He leaves behind a wife and a brother who also works for the department.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)