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Tomball Police Department personnel are investigating a tragic hit and run traffic collision that resulted in a pedestrian being transported, via Life Flight, to Memorial Herman Hospital where he remains in critical condition.

This morning at approximately 6:30am, a pedestrian (Earl Moore, 55 years of age, a Tomball resident) was walking westbound in the 800 block of James Street, (toward the HEB grocery store – his place of employment), when he was struck from behind by a vehicle also traveling westbound. The force of the impact caused Mr. Moore to be thrown into an open ditch located on the north side of James Street, where he laid unconscious and critically injured until Tomball Police Officer Rick Garza (at approximately 7:00am) passed the location and noticed Mr. Moore lying motionless on the ground.

Officer Garza immediately stopped to provide aid and realized that Mr. Moore had been the victim of a hit and run.

Paramedics from Northwest Emergency Medical Services responded, provided medical aid, and coordinated transportation via Life Flight, to Memorial Herman Hospital.

The suspect is still outstanding, and investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying the individual who was driving what is believed to be a white, Ford sedan.
If you have any information regarding this case, please contact Detective Jimmy Harral, at (281) 290-1311, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Members of the Tomball High School Student Council rewarded area police officers, firefighters and EMS workers for their dedication, by providing a free lunch for them Jan. 30. Students called it the Food for Courage campaign.

"We started this five years ago with a Cookies for Courage campaign and it evolved into serving an entire meal," said student council advisor Billie Ann Dio. "It's a way of giving back and a good way for the students to see the true heroes of the community."

The students served beef stew, rice, salad, bread and desserts. The desserts were made by the students, while the staff of the Tomball High School cafeteria helped make the rest of the meal.

"It's a great blessing for me to be able to do something like this," said student council President Anna Liu. "A lot of people my age don't get to contribute to their community. I get a lot out of giving back. I love getting to show them gratitude for all that they do for us."

Student Matthew Pallini agreed with Liu.

"It's very comforting to help the people who help us," he said.

Cpt. Daniel Hancock of Northwest EMS said recognition and appreciation like this makes the job worthwhile.

"We don't work for thank you's, we do this because we love to help, but something like this is very nice and motivational," he said.

Tomball Police Cpt. Rick Grassi said that seeing the area youth come together like this gives him hope for the future.

"It's wonderful to see the youth leaders of the community showing their appreciation for the men and women of public safety," he said. "Seeing these kids reach out to recognize us inspires me and I hope that we inspire them to help others as well."

A horrific scene unfolded in a parking lot behind Concordia Lutheran High School, April 16, as crunched metal, pieces of cars and bodies lay sprawled across the pavement. Fortunately the scene was staged, but for many it looked all too real.

Shattered Lives of Tomball staged its annual mock, multi-victim crash scene for students and family of the high school, to bring awareness about drunk driving. "Victims" are either pronounced dead at the scene or transported by both helicopter and ambulance to Tomball Regional Hospital. "Perpetrators" are then transported to jail to face consequences for "driving drunk".

"We try to make it as realistic as possible," said Shattered Lives co-director Kim Garrett. "We go to great lengths to put this presentation on."

After the program, students are transported to an off-location retreat for the rest of the day, where they have no communication with the outside world.

"It's an actual deal with the result of they didn't come home from school, come home from practice, in order to make it real," Garrett said. "They can't call and tell people hey, I'm really ok."

The next day the students participated in a mock memorial service at Concordia Lutheran, where the entire student body sees a video that shows footage from scenes of the crash, hospital and the Tomball jail.

Tomball Police, Tomball Fire and Northwest EMS actually respond to the scene and work it as a real accident, providing training for the departments as well.

"It shows that the coordination between the agencies is like a symphony," Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck said. "There are a lot of moving parts."

Beyond that, Hauck said the program provides a very inportant and humbling experience for participants.

"It's important because it heightens awareness of driving under the influence for both students and parents," he said. "It's a demonstration about how tragic the loss of life really is, especially when it is due to the poor decisions of others."

Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr agreed.

"It shows how dire the consequences of one bad decision can be," he said.

Tomball Regional Hospital also uses the program as an active training event, as the "victims" are brought into their emergency room, overloading them with multiple trauma victims at one time.

"This is an opportunity for multi-agency cooperation to test our response with EMS providers in a mass casualty situation, so that we can better serve our providers," said Tomball Regional's emergency room director Michelle Henderson.

Parents have to travel to the emergency room and actually watch the doctors and nurses attempt to save their children. Many of them had to watch, as the decision was made to stop treatment and their children were pronounced "dead".

"It was a very real and sobering experience," said Pat Harrison, whose daughter Tess played a victim. "It kind of put everything into perspective."

Harrison said the message was well received among his daughter and her friends.

"I think the message is very well received," he said. "I had a discussion with my daughter and some of her friends about it and the entire experience was emotional."

The students that participated agreed.

"It was really realistic to be honest," said Concordia Lutheran senior Jay Stracke. "It was heartbreaking. I could hear my parents crying and I realized how easily life can be taken from you."

Senior Lauren Soule made a plea for people to think about others before making the choice to drink and drive.

"I'd like to tell people to think twice the next time," she said. "It will have an impact on people who do not want to be a part of your choices and it's not fair to them or their families."

For a photo gallery of this event, please visit our Flickr page.