A U.S. Army veteran serving as a police officer in Texas was killed in a head-on collision when he used his patrol car to block a suspect driving the wrong way during a highway pursuit last week, according to reports.
The tragic incident unfolded at around 3 p.m. in College Station.
The College Station Police Department (CSPD) was alerted about a woman trying to cash a fraudulent check and officers were dispatched to the business.
The female suspect fled the scene, and CPSD broke off the chase when she started driving against traffic on a state highway “due to the dangers that it caused,” CSPD Officer David Simmons told KBTX.
The suspect then entered Grimes County while still traveling in the wrong direction on Highway 6.
Sergeant Mark Butler of the Navasota Police Department (NPD) was driving towards the suspect and took potentially life-saving action that ultimately cost him his own.
“At 3:30 p.m., Sergeant Butler, who was traveling northbound, maneuvered his marked patrol vehicle and collided with the suspect, preventing her from hitting other motorists on the highway,” the Officer Down Memorial Page reports.
Sergeant Butler was rushed to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Videos shot by witnesses show the suspect driving at a high rate of speed just moments before the wreck.
Video shows moments before Navasota Police Sergeant Mark Butler was tragically killed Wednesday January 15th, 2025 as he collided head-on with the suspect who was fleeing from College Station police after she was confronted as she was attempting to cash fraudulent checks at a… pic.twitter.com/9dVMNFG1Y7
— X Global Update (@XGlobalUpdate) January 16, 2025
The suspect was also killed in the crash. She has not been identified at the time of this writing, as she was found to only be carrying false identification.
“I don’t believe we would have made it out if it wasn’t for the officer,” local resident Jonathan Crider told KBTX. “He selflessly gave himself up so nobody else would perish.”
“We changed lanes five seconds before the impact,” Crider said. “He didn’t swerve or brake. He sacrificed himself to save everyone behind us. I truly owe my life to him.”
Today was a heartbreaking reminder of the danger our law men & women face every time they leave home for work. We lost two officers today in the line of duty.
— Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) January 16, 2025
Please join Jan and me in prayer for Navasota Police Department officer Mark Butler, who was killed this evening in a…
Sergeant Butler reportedly served in the U.S. Army for six years before joining NPD in 2021.
The City of Navasota has established the Mark Butler Memorial Fund to support the Butler family.
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