Houston police, Under investigation Officers found a man dead in the back seat of his patrol car.
The man was discovered Dec. 21 after Mental Health Unit personnel arrived for work and found his body inside a marked HPD Ford Explorer. According to to police statements on social media.
The rear seat is designed to prevent a restrained person from escaping.
Police say the man may have crawled into his car to protect himself from the cold and may have become homeless.
The man's identity was not released pending confirmation by the Harris County Forensic Laboratory, and the cause of death was not disclosed. Police only said the man was in his 40s.
KHOU-TV reported that police indicated there was no alarm system to indicate the presence of a person inside the vehicle. Police are also reviewing surveillance video to determine how the man got into the vehicle, the sheriff's office said.
Police said the man was not in custody and said he likely crawled around the back of the cage into the cargo area and became trapped. The rear seat is designed to prevent a restrained person from escaping.
Police said officers had parked the car about three days before the man was found, so he could have been trapped in the car for up to three days.
Police are asking for the public's help in investigating the incident.
Video from the scene can be viewed at KHOU's news video report On YouTube.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
