Two women killed in U.S. 59 crash after Houston police chase

Two women were killed on U.S. 59 near the Galleria after a Houston police chase that began with a reported shoplifting call at an Old Navy. Assistant Chief James Bryant said officers were called around 9:15 p.m. to the store near the 5000 block of Westheimer Road, then the case escalated into a pursuit that ended with the women being struck as they crossed the freeway on foot.

The crash turned a retail theft response into a fatal roadway emergency on the Southwest Freeway corridor, one of the busiest stretches in Houston. The women were crossing U.S. 59 Thursday night when they were hit and killed, putting a spotlight on how quickly a property-crime call can become a deadly public-safety event when it moves onto high-speed highway lanes.

The pursuit now lands under Houston Police Department rules put in place in 2023, when the department tightened its vehicle-chase policy. Under those guidelines, officers are barred from starting pursuits when possible charges are limited to traffic-related, misdemeanor or nonviolent offenses, and supervisors must approve pursuits. A shoplifting call at a Galleria-area store raises the central question those rules were meant to address: whether the need to catch a suspect outweighed the risk to people on the road.

The location sharpened the danger. Westheimer Road and the Galleria area sit in one of Houston’s most hazardous pedestrian corridors, where shoppers, workers and drivers move between retail properties, parking areas and major arterials. Westheimer has repeatedly ranked among the city’s deadliest streets for pedestrians, including a 3.5-mile stretch that recorded 19 pedestrian deaths between 2021 and 2023. U.S. 59 adds another layer of risk because pedestrians crossing there face freeway speeds and limited refuge.

The crash is likely to intensify pressure on Houston police and traffic officials to explain the chase decision and to look again at pedestrian access around Westheimer and the Southwest Freeway. For Harris County, the immediate toll is two deaths, but the larger question is whether a theft call should have been allowed to cascade onto one of the region’s most dangerous roads.