Chambers County crash on I-10: Van driver dead, Texas DPS trooper airlifted to Houston hospital

HANKAMER, Texas - A Texas DPS trooper and a Chambers County deputy were taken to the hospital after a crash that left another driver dead, officials say.

The crash occurred around 6:50 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-10 near mile marker 815.

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The trooper was airlifted to a Houston hospital. Doctors will determine the extent of his injuries, but officials say he is able to talk. Texas DPS identified him as Trooper Travis Rocz, who has been with the department for six years.

A deputy also went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Texas DPS say.

The driver of a white van died at the scene.

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According to Texas DPS, the incident began when a trooper stopped an intoxicated driver on the interstate.

"He made contact with the driver, determined that the driver was too inebriated to move the car. So, he exited his vehicle and moved the intoxicated driver’s vehicle to the inside shoulder, straddling the inside lane and inside shoulder," says Sgt. Richard Standifer, a public information officer with Texas DPS.

The trooper then moved his own patrol car behind the other driver’s car, officials say.

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A few minutes later, a Chambers County deputy also arrived behind the trooper.  Then a short while later, a second trooper, Rocz, arrived behind the other vehicles, officials say.

According to Texas DPS, Trooper Rocz was getting out of his patrol vehicle when the crash occurred. Officials say the trooper saw the white van coming and tried to get out of the way, but the trooper’s vehicle was hit, and then the deputy’s vehicle was struck as well.

Sgt. Standifer says the three vehicles ended up in a pyramid formation, with one vehicle stacked on the other, and the trooper ended up in a space underneath. 

"His vehicle was not lying flat. It was kind of like on top of the patrol unit, which gave him enough space to be among the living on the bottom of that," Sgt. Standifer says. "It truly is a miracle."

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The driver of the white van died at the scene. The Chambers County deputy was still in his patrol vehicle at the time of the crash but sustained non-life-threatening injuries, officials say.

The intoxicated driver was still in the first trooper’s vehicle and was not injured, officials say.