|
|
 |
Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Deputies find clues in fatal towing incident
By Barrett Goldsmith
Baytown Sun Published June 26, 2007 Harris County sheriff’s deputies are beginning to fill in the gaps of a bizarre incident in which a woman was killed while trying to prevent her car from being towed, and the investigation could lead to criminal charges against the driver of the wrecker or the woman’s ex-husband.
Cathy Deemer, 53, confronted the wrecker driver after he came to pick up her ex-husband’s car at about 11 p.m. Saturday night at her home in the Lazy Acres recreational vehicle park on West Archer Road. Lt. John Martin said the ex-husband had hired the wrecker to retrieve his car, which a fellow resident of the park said he had been trying to recover for months.
Deemer then tried to stop the man from taking her car, and somehow latched onto the car. After being dragged — deputies don’t know where or how Deemer held onto the caar — she fell off the car and hit her head. She was alive and conscious at the scene, witnesses said, but was pronounced dead after being taken to San Jacinto Methodist Hospital.
Law enforcement was not notified of the order to tow the vehicle, as is required when any vehicle is set to be impounded. Acting on a tip, deputies located the white 2001 Grand Marquis near the Sheldon Reservoir by U.S. 90, and made contact with the owner of he wrecker.
“Initially, he denied having any involvement in the incident, “Martin said. “But after additional questioning, he admitted that he had gone out there to tow the vehicle.”
Martin said he had no timetable for the investigation, but he said any charges stemming from the incident would go to the Harris County district attorney’s office. The ex-husband lives out of town, and Martin said neither his name nor that of the wrecker driver was being released.
The manager of the RV park, who asked not to be identified by name, said she was in her home when she heard her dog barking, then a sound that seemed like extremely loud wind chimes, which she later realized was the chain of the wrecker dragging on the ground.
Then she heard the screams. She said she recognized the screams immediately – they were the screams she always heard when Deemer’s ex-husband used to hit her, she said. She ran out and saw Deemer laying on the floor, conscious and gasping. She did not get a look at the driver, but said the driver must have seen her.
“There is no way the driver (of the wrecker) couldn’t hear those screams, even in the cab of the truck – everybody heard them,” the park manager said. “And he had to have seen me when I came out there, but he just kept on going. He didn’t care.”
The manager said she had started to get to know Deemer over the last few months. They were fellow Christians who always became excited when talking about their faith. They shared their hopes and fears, including Deemer’s fear of her husband. The couple’s son is in jail, after he and his father were evicted from Lazy Acres because of the son’s abuse of drugs.
“She was a good person, a good Christian woman,” the manager said. “She was the type that would get up in your face if that’s what had to be done, but she would never hurt anyone. She loved her grandkids. This is just not right.”
Baytown Sun Published June 26, 2007 Harris County sheriff’s deputies are beginning to fill in the gaps of a bizarre incident in which a woman was killed while trying to prevent her car from being towed, and the investigation could lead to criminal charges against the driver of the wrecker or the woman’s ex-husband.
Cathy Deemer, 53, confronted the wrecker driver after he came to pick up her ex-husband’s car at about 11 p.m. Saturday night at her home in the Lazy Acres recreational vehicle park on West Archer Road. Lt. John Martin said the ex-husband had hired the wrecker to retrieve his car, which a fellow resident of the park said he had been trying to recover for months.
Deemer then tried to stop the man from taking her car, and somehow latched onto the car. After being dragged — deputies don’t know where or how Deemer held onto the caar — she fell off the car and hit her head. She was alive and conscious at the scene, witnesses said, but was pronounced dead after being taken to San Jacinto Methodist Hospital.
Law enforcement was not notified of the order to tow the vehicle, as is required when any vehicle is set to be impounded. Acting on a tip, deputies located the white 2001 Grand Marquis near the Sheldon Reservoir by U.S. 90, and made contact with the owner of he wrecker.
“Initially, he denied having any involvement in the incident, “Martin said. “But after additional questioning, he admitted that he had gone out there to tow the vehicle.”
Martin said he had no timetable for the investigation, but he said any charges stemming from the incident would go to the Harris County district attorney’s office. The ex-husband lives out of town, and Martin said neither his name nor that of the wrecker driver was being released.
The manager of the RV park, who asked not to be identified by name, said she was in her home when she heard her dog barking, then a sound that seemed like extremely loud wind chimes, which she later realized was the chain of the wrecker dragging on the ground.
Then she heard the screams. She said she recognized the screams immediately – they were the screams she always heard when Deemer’s ex-husband used to hit her, she said. She ran out and saw Deemer laying on the floor, conscious and gasping. She did not get a look at the driver, but said the driver must have seen her.
“There is no way the driver (of the wrecker) couldn’t hear those screams, even in the cab of the truck – everybody heard them,” the park manager said. “And he had to have seen me when I came out there, but he just kept on going. He didn’t care.”
The manager said she had started to get to know Deemer over the last few months. They were fellow Christians who always became excited when talking about their faith. They shared their hopes and fears, including Deemer’s fear of her husband. The couple’s son is in jail, after he and his father were evicted from Lazy Acres because of the son’s abuse of drugs.
“She was a good person, a good Christian woman,” the manager said. “She was the type that would get up in your face if that’s what had to be done, but she would never hurt anyone. She loved her grandkids. This is just not right.”