Houston Officer Who Drowned 'Laid Down His Life' For Harvey Victims

HOUSTON, TX — Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo broke down several times during an emotional afternoon news conference Tuesday when he confirmed the death of a Houston police officer who perished Sunday after driving into Hurricane Harvey's swirling floodwaters to help his stricken city. Police Sgt. Steve Perez knew the dangers but persisted when his wife, Cheryl, who stood at Acevedo's side during the 10-minute news conference, begged him to stay behind. It wasn't his way, a grieving Acevedo said; rather, the 34-year police veteran simply told his wife, "I have work to do."

News of Perez's death was a knife through Houston's already wounded heart. At least 15 people have died in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast with fury Friday night. Weather forecasters have never seen anything like the deluge that followed. Thousands were forced from their living rooms to boats, makeshift flotillas and their rooftops to escape the fast-rising swamp, and more misery is ahead as now Tropical Storm Harvey doubles back to punch Houston again.

Perez went out in the churning floodwaters to help the city he loved Sunday. "He laid down his life," Acevedo said. "He was a sweet, gentle public servant." (Get regular updates about Hurricane Harvey and other news in by signing up here for real-time news alerts and our free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

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Rescuers had a good idea where Perez was but made the gut-wrenching decision not to go in after him. Police mourned privately for several days before his body was recovered by dive teams early Tuesday, when word of his sacrifice for the people of Houston began to trickle out.

"We could not put more officers at risk," Acevedo said, choking the words through tears, "for what we knew in our hearts would be a recovery mission."

Perez died two days shy of his 61st birthday.

Acevedo steeled himself to break the news to another wife who lost her husband to his oath to serve and protect. "How do you think he would have wanted to go?" he asked Cheryl Perez as both wept. "Watching or doing what he had been doing for 34 years?"

She responded as he expected, with grace.

"It was his turn to go," she said. "It's the way he would have wanted him to go."

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"Our hearts are saddened, and we grieve for this family," said Mayor Sylvester Turner, who also spoke at the news conference. "What we can say is Sgt. Perez fulfilled his mission and the Lord called him home. I would dare not say he lost his life in vain, because he didn't.

"Every single day we ask our men and women in blue to show up, to come to work when conditions are good and even when conditions are very challenging," Turner said. "And every day, we ask them to get on our roads and to come to work and to strive to make this city a much better place in which to live."

Acevedo came to know Perez quickly after joining the department last November. He was a man of unyielding faith and kindness, he said.

Harvey's death toll since slamming into the Texas Gulf Coast Friday evening as a Category 4 hurricane continues to rise. One person died in Rockport, where Harvey made landfall. Also among the casualties, a family of six has was swept away in the floodwaters Sunday, a family member who was able to escape the van told local media. And a woman from Porter died in a freak Harvey-related accident when a tree loosened by the raging floodwaters fell on her mobile home as she slept.

More rain is expected Tuesday and into Wednesday.

Houston Police Department handout photo

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