DEC 2020 Blues Vol 36 No. 12 - 36TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Chase Cormier ready for

Chase Cormier ready for XGAMES with ATV wheelchair. during a road rage dispute. Attorney Looney said Soliz called him on Monday Nov. 9th and said he needed his help. Looney picked him up the following afternoon, about 24 hours after Soliz had shot Rios to death. Looney arranged with prosecutors to deliver Soliz to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office downtown and outlined when he was leaving and which route they would take. But HPD decided to stop the two in route and Looney found himself surrounded by unmarked police vehicles on the Katy Freeway, where he was pulled from the vehicle and Soliz was arrested with Rios’ handcuffs. In a statement, Dane Schiller, spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said “Officers acting on a warrant arrested the defendant before he could surrender and took him into custody without anyone being harmed,” Schiller added that his office is limited in what can be said about the case because of an ongoing investigation. The shooting once again illustrates the broken criminal justice system in Harris County. The BLUES has called for the resignation of Harris County DA Kim Ogg who clearly has the blood of nearly a dozen Houston Police officers on her hands. “The total disregard for human life at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office is unacceptable,” remarked BLUES Publisher Michael Barron. “Until the entire judicial system in Harris County is replaced, innocent citizens and police officers will continue to die at the hands of thugs who should be locked up. Now more than ever, Kim Ogg needs to step down” Since May 2020, Houston Police Department helicopter pilot Chase Cormier has been working to recover from a helicopter crash that left his partner dead and him without the use of his legs. Cormier, 35, said he remembers steering the helicopter away from an occupied apartment building to a vacant one as the helicopter went down. He remembers not feeling his legs after the crash and asking about whether they’d been severed as firefighters worked to remove him and his partner, Officer Jason Knox, from the wreckage. Months later, Cormier is still working to recover. Cormier hopes to one day fly again, but in the meantime, he has to learn to walk again. “You just have to keep pushing hard. You have to stay focused mentally and physically focused toward goals,” Cormier said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint and I truly understand what that means,” he said. Independence Corps, a non-profit organization which helps to restore the freedom and dignity of mobility to the nation’s wounded and disabled heroes, purchased the nearly ,000 chair for Cormier to help him traverse hills and uneven terrain. “You can get out there go hunting, shooting, fishing, play soccer, football, baseball, all of it from the chair,” Cormier said. “I know in my soul that I’ll walk again, but there’s still a lot of unknown factors of what that will look like and what I’ll be able to recover with. It’s out of my hands but I trust in God’s hands and he’s been great and he’s blessed me so far.” A Go- FundMe page has been established to help the Cormier family with medical and other expenses. 24 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 25