By Elizabeth Zwirz, Fox News
A Texas sheriff’s office announced the death of one of their deputies, who died Wednesday when her patrol car flipped upside down in a water-logged ditch.
The fatal incident occurred when the deputy, identified as Loren Vasquez, 23, reported to “a high priority water rescue call,” according to a news release on the Waller County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page.
“She was northbound on FM 362 near Hoover Road when her patrol unit became airborne after driving into the water covered roadway,” the news release said.
“Her patrol unit landed upside down in a water filled ditch.”
“Responding deputies were unable to gain access to Deputy Vasquez inside of her vehicle,” the sheriff’s office continued.
(The Waller County Sheriff’s Office is mourning one of their own after a deputy was killed in the line of duty. Courtesy of KPRC 2 Click2Houston and YouTube. Posted on Nov 1, 2018.)
Dispatch audio obtained by ABC News revealed the struggle to rescue Vasquez, with one person saying that they had “no way to get to her.”
“I can’t get the doors open,” an officer was reportedly heard saying “I’ve broken a window but I can’t get the doors open … I can’t make contact with her.”
Waking up to tough news this morning. A deputy with the #WallerCo Sheriff’s Office died in floodwater overnight. Her name, age has not been released. Sheriff posted this on FB overnight. #abc13 https://t.co/7ki3HLEw5A pic.twitter.com/K8dCZyaeuP
— Courtney Fischer (@CourtneyABC13) November 1, 2018
Vasquez was eventually retrieved and taken to the hospital by ambulance, the sheriff’s office said.
Her cause of death will be determined by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The deceased deputy, who joined the sheriff’s office in May, lived in Waller County with her parents and brother, the news release said.
Vasquez had recently finished her field training and, at the time of the incident, “had been on patrol as a single deputy unit for only three nights,” according to the sheriff’s office.
“The Waller County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your thoughts and prayers during the coming days and weeks,” the news release said.
Original post https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-sheriffs-deputy-23-dies-after-patrol-car-flips-into-flooded-ditch-officials
Editor’s note: Our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Vasquez’s family both blood and blue. Thank you Deputy for your strength and determination to serve the people of Waller County. Your life mattered and you will not be forgotten.
