San Jacinto County deputy killed in crash

A San Jacinto County Sheriff’s deputy, Brian Pfluger, died in the line of duty Saturday night in a car crash en route to a burglary scene in Coldspring. A San Jacinto County Sheriff’s deputy, Brian Pfluger, died in the line of duty Saturday night in a car crash en route to a burglary scene in Coldspring. Photo: San Jacinto Sheriff's Office Photo: San Jacinto Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close San Jacinto County deputy killed in crash 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

A San Jacinto County Sheriff’s deputy died in the line of duty Saturday evening in a car crash en route to a burglary scene in Coldspring, officials said.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded around 6:45 p.m to reports of a crash at the intersection of State Highway 150 and Hill Lane.

Deputy Brian Pfluger was driving eastbound toward reports of a burglary in progress on Hill Lane when the accident occurred.

Pfluger and a second deputy were driving separate vehicles en route to the scene when the second deputy slowed down to turn right onto Hill Road, according to the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Department of Public Safety. Pfluger swerved to avoid hitting the car but clipped his colleague’s vehicle. His car rolled over several times and ejected him from the vehicle, officials said.

He was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, officials said. The other deputy involved in the crash was not seriously injured.

Pfluger was taken to CHI St. Luke’s Health Memorial Hospital in Livingston, where he was pronounced dead.

He was a four-year veteran of the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office. Pfluger, 36, leaves behind a wife and a young child.

The Sheriffs’ Association of Texas released a statement on Twitter Sunday morning thanking Pfluger for his service.

“Our prayers are with his family and the San Jac community,” the association said.

Law enforcement officers from Montgomery County, Polk County and Livingston are assisting the department with calls, officials said.

Saturday’s crash follows several deadly incidents involving Houston-area law enforcement in recent weeks. Houston Police Sgt. Christopher Brewster was killed on Dec. 7 responding to a domestic disturbance call in southeast Houston, and Nassau Bay Police Department Sgt. Kaila Sullivan was fatally struck and killed on Dec. 10 while trying to perform a traffic stop. On Thursday, off-duty HPD officer Gizelle Solorio died in a wrong-way crash on I-10 near Sealy.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com