On Friday, August 18, 1978, at approximately 11:30 P.M., Reserve Deputy James Alex Wier was riding second man in a Patrol unit. The unit became involved in a pursuit of burglary suspects originated by the Houston Police Department. As the pursuit continued east on F. M. 1960, the HPD unit motioned for Deputy Wier’s unit to pass him and take over the position of primary unit.

As they approached the city of Humble, the Humble Police Department was notified of the impending pursuit and provided assistance. The suspect vehicle, crossing U.S. 59 and F. M. 1960, was darting in and out of traffic and also driving down the center of the roadway in excess of 115 m.p.h. At this point, the Deputies were approximately five car lengths behind the suspect. An Humble Police unit, stationary at the intersection of Lakeshire Drive and F. M. 1960, observed the suspect vehicle pass another car. As the Humble unit pulled out to join the pursuit, he noticed the Sheriff’s Department unit approaching. The Humble unit made a frantic effort to exit the roadway to the left; however, the Sheriff’s vehicle clipped the right rear bumper of the Humble unit. This collision caused the Sheriff’s Department vehicle to lose control. Leaving the roadway, the vehicle struck a bridge guardrail post and then jumped the concrete embankments of the ditch. As it landed, the unit flipped end over end, then turned sideways and began to roll over and over. The vehicle struck two trees before coming to a stop and bursting into flames. The other Patrol Deputy was able to exit the vehicle on his own, while responding Deputies extinguished the fire and removed Deputy Wier from the patrol unit.

Deputy Wier died instantly as a result of massive head and chest injuries. Reserve Deputy James Wier had a Masters Degree in Education and was the Director of Food Services for the Cypress Fairbanks I.S.D. Reserve Deputy Wier was 36 years old.