Montgomery County Deputy Hurt in I-45 Hit-and-Run During Traffic Stop

Reported October 25, 2026

Reported

A passing driver struck a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office patrol car on Interstate 45 early Saturday morning while deputies were conducting a traffic stop on a suspected impaired driver, injuring a deputy and then fleeing the scene, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

• The Crash On I-45: A second deputy had pulled up in a marked patrol vehicle with its emergency lights activated and was just beginning to exit the car when a passing vehicle collided with the patrol car, according to the sheriff’s office.
• Hit-And-Run Investigation: Investigators traced the striking vehicle to its registered address, where they found damage that, according to the sheriff’s office, was consistent with the collision.
• Two DWI Arrests: Both the suspected hit-and-run driver and the driver from the original traffic stop were arrested on DWI charges and booked into the Montgomery County Jail.
• Deputy Condition: The injured deputy was transported to a hospital and was treated and released, the sheriff’s office confirmed.

The incident unfolded early Saturday in the 14000 block of I-45 in Montgomery County, where deputies had already stopped a driver on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. When a second deputy arrived to assist and pulled up in a marked patrol vehicle with its emergency lights flashing, a passing vehicle struck the patrol car before leaving the scene, according to MCSO. The deputy, who had barely begun to step out of the vehicle at the moment of impact, was injured in the collision and was later taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released, authorities said.

Investigators worked to identify the fleeing vehicle and tracked it to the address where it was registered, according to the sheriff’s office. When they arrived, they found damage to the vehicle that was consistent with the crash. The sheriff’s office identified 33-year-old Elizabeth Perez as the suspected driver and placed her under arrest on three charges: felony failure to stop and render aid, passing an emergency vehicle and causing bodily injury, and driving while intoxicated. The 24-year-old driver who had been stopped in the original traffic investigation, identified as Jacob Zamora, was also arrested and charged with DWI. Both were booked into the Montgomery County Jail, MCSO said. You can read the full original report at KPRC Click2Houston.

Texas Move Over Law and Roadside Safety

The crash prompted Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle to renew his call for drivers to give roadside responders adequate space, referencing Texas’ Move Over or Slow Down law. Under that law, motorists approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights activated are required to move out of the nearest lane when it is safe to do so, and if a lane change isn’t possible, they must reduce their speed to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit, according to MCSO. The sheriff’s office also pointed to the earlier line-of-duty death of Deputy Erika Serrato as a reminder of the dangers that deputies and other first responders face while working on Texas roadways.

Saturday’s incident illustrates how quickly the roadside environment can turn dangerous when a distracted or impaired driver fails to respond to the flashing lights that are meant to warn them. The combination of an active emergency scene and a second arriving patrol car with lights on created a visible warning corridor, yet that barrier wasn’t enough to prevent the collision, and the consequences involved a hospitalized deputy and two additional criminal arrests rooted in suspected impairment.

Why I-45 Roadside Stops Carry Heightened Risk

Interstate 45 is one of the busiest and most crash-prone corridors in the Houston metro area, stretching from downtown Houston north through communities including Conroe and into Montgomery County. The highway carries a heavy volume of commercial and passenger traffic at all hours, and in the predawn and overnight hours, impaired driving incidents are disproportionately common, meaning law enforcement officers working traffic stops along I-45 are regularly working alongside fast-moving vehicles in low-visibility conditions. That combination functions like a pressure cooker for roadside risk, where a single driver’s inattention or impairment can set off a chain of collisions and injuries before anyone on the roadside has time to react.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have both documented that law enforcement officers and emergency responders are struck and killed on roadsides across the United States at an alarming rate, with impaired and distracted driving cited as leading factors. For example, TxDOT data has consistently shown that Texas ranks among the states with the most roadside worker fatalities each year, driven in part by the sheer volume of traffic on major urban corridors like I-45. The Move Over law exists specifically because officers standing or working near a stopped vehicle are extremely vulnerable, and even a patrol car with its lights fully activated doesn’t guarantee that an approaching driver will respond appropriately, particularly if that driver is impaired.

• Impaired Driving After Dark: Late-night and early-morning hours on I-45 see elevated rates of impaired driving, increasing the danger to officers conducting roadside stops.
• Move Over Law Compliance: Texas law requires drivers to move one lane away from a stopped emergency vehicle or reduce speed to 20 mph below the posted limit if a lane change isn’t safe.
• Felony Consequences For Fleeing: Leaving the scene of a crash that causes injury is a felony offense in Texas, separate from any DWI charge, which can significantly increase the criminal exposure for a fleeing driver.
• Arriving Officers At Risk: Deputies and other responders approaching an active scene are particularly vulnerable in the moments they exit their vehicles, as this incident demonstrates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Texas’s Move Over Law Require

Under Texas law, any driver approaching a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights activated must move to a lane that isn’t immediately adjacent to the stopped vehicle, when it’s safe to do so. If moving over isn’t safe or possible, the driver must slow to at least 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit. Violating the law can result in criminal charges, and if the violation causes injury, those charges can rise to felony level.

What Charges Can a Driver Face For Hitting an Emergency Vehicle and Leaving

In Texas, a driver who strikes an emergency vehicle causing injury and then leaves the scene can face felony failure to stop and render aid charges, along with a separate charge for passing an emergency vehicle in a manner that causes bodily injury, and any additional charges that apply, such as DWI, if impairment is suspected. Each of these charges carries its own potential penalties, and they can be prosecuted concurrently.

How Do Investigators Connect a Fleeing Vehicle to a Hit-And-Run

When a driver flees a crash scene, investigators typically combine witness accounts, surveillance footage, vehicle debris left at the scene, and license plate information to identify the vehicle and its owner. In this case, the sheriff’s office traced the vehicle to its registered address and found damage they said was consistent with the collision, which formed part of the basis for the arrest.