MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – A newly-released report has detailed the deadly accident that took the lives of a Patton Village police officer and an 11-year-old boy.
According to the report, Patton Village Police Sgt. Stacey Baumgartner was in a marked police vehicle with its emergency lights on and siren activated while in pursuit of Garrett Nee. The vehicles were westbound on SH 242 approaching the intersection of FM 1485.
The reports says Nee ran a red light, and Baumgartner followed, also disregarding the red light. The report also says Baumgartner failed to slow as necessary for safe operation through the intersection.
The reports says a Suburban was northbound on FM 1485 approaching SH 242 with a green light. The report says the front driver's side of the Suburban struck the left passenger side of Baumgartner's police unit.
According to the report, Baumgartner's vehicle then slid into a traffic pole with its right passenger side. He died as a result of the accident.
The report says the Suburban flipped after impact and came to rest on its roof. Adan Hilario Jr., 11, was killed in the crash after being ejected from the vehicle.
Nee, 29, is charged with murder and manslaughter. According to the Department of Public Safety, Nee was in a dark gray Scion at a Valero gas station when officers starting pursuing him.
"He was a family guy. He loved his family. He loved his job," Sgt. Baumgartner's niece, Samantha Rodriguez, said.
The mayor of Patton Village described him an an amazing officer.
“He had a compassion and a love for God, for his family and for fellow law enforcement,” Leah Tarrant, Patton Village Mayor, said. “He always had a smile.”
She said he loved his adult son, his wife and his young daughter.
"I always thought, if daddies could see Stacey Baumgartner with Cloe, they would be a great dad. She was his world.” Tarrant said.
Tarrant and officers from the Patton Village Police Department placed a wreath near a patrol car on the main road into town Monday afternoon. A citizen placed American flags in a half circle around the patrol car.
Larry Kidi, who met Baumgartner after he started as a police officer in 2012, said he will be missed.
“The guy was a sweetheart. He actually cared about the community,” Kidi said. “It’s just devastating. A good guy gone. All the good ones are going.”
“The suburban struck the patrol unit, The patrol unit took severe damage and came to rest at the end of the edge of the intersection and struck a pole,” Standifer said.
According to DPS, six other people in the Suburban were also injured and taken to Conroe Regional and Memorial Hermann hospitals.
Nee turned around and returned to the scene after seeing the crash in his rearview mirror, DPS said.
Investigators said Nee was arrested and placed into a second patrol car, where he fought authorities and tried to kick-out the back window of the police vehicle.
Thirty patrol cars from different law enforcement agencies escorted Baumgartner's body from the hospital to the Montgomery County Forensic Services in Conroe.
"It's so bad. He left a 4-year-old daughter, a 20-year-old son and his wife," the officer's brother-in-law, David Addicks, said.
Nee is a U.S. Marine and father of two young children. His neighbors said the incident sounds like the man they know.
"From what we have always seen, (Nee has) a very nice family, (they're) very wholesome," neighbor Jason Sands said. "They go to the park. They go for walks (and) plays with his kids. We've never seen anything out of the ordinary. Ever."