'We will come to the truth': Houston officials investigate deadly crash involving HPD cruiser

One day after Christmas, the family of Charles Payne was mourning the loss of their loved one after identifying him as the victim of a midday collision with a police cruiser in north Houston. 

According to Click2Houston.com, Payne, 77, was killed in a collision that involved a Houston Police Department patrol car in the 4600 block of North Shepherd Drive and Thorton Road.

“He had left home for church this morning, and he didn’t make it back,” Payne’s son, Kevin Payne, told Click2Houston.com 

According to ABC 13, surveillance footage shows the police unit was traveling north on North Shepherd when it collided with a car making a left turn onto Thorton Road. The violent crash pushed Payne’s car down the road, according to the report, and it showed the police car did not have its lights on. Sean Teare, chief of vehicular crimes with the district attorney's office, told ABC 13 it remains to be determined if the officer was responding to a call. 

"We don't have that information yet,” Teare told the station. 

The officer was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and was expected to be released, according to ABC 13, which also reported that the district attorney’s office will be investigating the accident. Teare told the website that there have been other fatalities involving officers. 

“In every one of those, we are going side by side with our partners at HPD and the vehicular crime division,” he told ABC 13. “We will come to the truth and figure out what happened.”

Kevin Payne told the station that the family’s primary concern is finding out whether the police officer was at fault for his father’s death. 

The younger Payne also told ABC 13 that he believes speed may have contributed to the crash that claimed his father’s life. ABC 13 reported that the speed limit on the road where the collision occurred is 35 mph. 

According to Click2Houston, Anthony Jones was working at a nearby carwash when he witnessed the crash. Jones told the website that he called 911 and tried to perform CPR on Payne until a police officer arrived at the scene and took over.