HPD officer dies in pursuit accident

Eydelman Mani


A funeral mass was held in a northeast Houston church for a Houston police officer killed while pursuing a suspected car thief last week.

Officer Eydelmen Mani was killed May 18 just before midnight, when his patrol vehicle struck a guard rail while he was doing about 60 miles per hour in the 6100 block of North Freeway.

Mani had joined the chase of a suspected car thief. The chase, according to HPD, reached speeds of 90 miles per hour.

An HPD spokesman said Mani was in his patrol vehicle northbound on the North Freeway service road when, for reasons unknown, his vehicle veered left, went off the roadway into the grassy median, and then struck a guard rail. Houston Fire Department personnel extricated Mani from his vehicle and transported him to the hospital in serious condition.

Mani, 30, was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The investigation into the accident is continuing.

Mani was assigned to the North Patrol Division on West Montgomery Road and was a 7-year veteran of the HPD.

He is survived by his wife, Monica, and his 3-year-old son, Eydelmen Jr.

A funeral mass was held May 22 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on Tidwell. The officer was laid to rest at Hollywood Cemetery on North Main.

Ronald Eugene Collins, 31, the subject of the chase, was eventually caught. He faces charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and evading arrest.