# Officer Down: Ernest Mendoza - [Needville, Texas]



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

01/22/2007
*Chief of Texas school district killed in crash*

*Officer Down: Ernest Mendoza* - [Needville, Texas]









ODMP
*Biographical Info*
*Age:* 54
*Additional Info:* Chief Ernest Mendoza had served with the Needville ISD Police Department for 10 years and a total of 25 years law enforcement service. He is survived by his wife and seven children.
*I**ncident Details*

*Cause of Death:* Mendoza was killed when his patrol car was struck head-on by a drunk driver. *Date of Incident:* January 19, 2007

*Chief of Texas school district killed in crash*
The Associated Press
WHARTON, Texas A Wharton construction worker with four previous drunken driving convictions has been charged with felony murder.
Twenty-nine-year-old Guillarmo Paniagua is accused of being drunk and then fleeing the scene of a crash in which the police chief of the Needville Independent School District died.
Authorities say he was driving east on Farm-to-Market Road 1301 last night when he veered into the westbound lane and collided with a police cruiser driven by Ernie Mendoza -- the police chief of the Needville I-S-D. ...

*Full Story: Chief of Texas school district killed in crash*


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