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Pilot injured in HPD helicopter crash was a hero during Hurricane Harvey

Chase Cormier is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and was hailed as a hero in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

HOUSTON — Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier, the pilot injured in an HPD helicopter crash, remains in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Cormier underwent surgery Saturday morning after the crash and he is hopeful that he will survive. 

Chase Cormier has been with HPD since 2006 and is assigned to the Air & Marine Division.

Like thousands of other first responders, Cormier was a hero in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

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The U.S. Army veteran, who served in Afghanistan, helped coordinate logistics for the U.S. Coast Guard as they rescued hundreds of Harvey victims along the Texas Gulf Coast.

He also coordinated Operation Barbecue Relief with chefs all over the country who fed first responders and victims. They were delivering 35,000 meals a day, according to HPOU.

For his tireless efforts, Cormier was among the first responders treated by Mattress Mack to an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles for Game 6 of the 2017 World Series.

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“We were treated like royalty,” Cormier told HPOU’s Jim Kennedy. “The experience – being able to experience that with fellow first responders and veterans – was really the best part of it.”

Hours after the crash, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo asked for prayers for Cormier. The credited him with saving lives on the ground by coming down in an unoccupied area of a north Houston apartment complex.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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