KEVIN MORAN, Staff
Copyright 2005 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
A Brazoria County sheriff’s deputy was struck by a pickup truck and killed while he was working a second job directing traffic at a BP Amoco chemical plant on FM 2004 early Monday.
Jason Alexander Oliff, 27, who joined the department four years ago, was placing flares on FM 2004 in preparation for shift-change traffic at the plant, when a vehicle driven by a plant employee struck him, Sheriff Charles Wagner said.
The flares are used to define a safety zone on the road outside the plant during shift changes, Wagner said.
Oliff was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston and pronounced dead there, Wagner said.
The accident occurred at about 5:20 a.m.
The pickup driver was going around another vehicle that was slowing to enter the plant when the pickup struck Oliff, said Texas Department of Public Safety Cpl. Todd Duke. Both vehicles were southbound, he said.
DPS troopers investigated the accident and will present evidence to a Brazoria County grand jury for a determination on whether any charges should be filed against the driver of the pickup, Duke said.
The preliminary investigation indicated no drugs or alcohol were involved but blood tests will be conducted, Duke said.
Oliff joined the department in July 2001 and worked as a jailer until transferring to the patrol division in October 2004.
Oliff was engaged to be married, Wagner said.
“Jason was a very good employee,” Wagner said. “He was a very well-liked and very well-respected member of the department.”
kevin.moran@chron.com