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Chaz Elias Joubert

Age : 27

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 06/13/2022

Location : Southwest Freeway frontage road at West Sam Houston Parkway South

City : Houston

County : Harris

State : Texas

Agency : Houston Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: Bystander killed during pursuit initiated after Houston police encountered Yasmir Reyes driving a Ford Mustang recklessly near PlazAmericas. Later federal litigation described Reyes as doing donuts in a parking lot when police approached him. Reyes drove away and Houston police pursued him.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/13/2022, 27-year-old Chaz Elias Joubert was killed when a Ford Mustang fleeing Houston police ran a red light and crashed into the Chevrolet Malibu he was driving at the Southwest Freeway frontage road and West Sam Houston Parkway South. Joubert was working as a rideshare driver and had a 16-year-old female passenger in his vehicle.
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Houston police encountered the Mustang near PlazAmericas. The driver, Yasmir Reyes, drove away from police and a high-speed pursuit followed along the Southwest Freeway frontage road.
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Reyes drove at more than twice the posted speed limit. Crash reconstruction evidence later presented in court established that the Mustang entered the intersection at extremely high speed after running a red light and struck the side of Joubert's Malibu. Surveillance footage also captured the Mustang speeding immediately before the collision.
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Joubert died at the scene from blunt-force injuries. His 16-year-old passenger survived but suffered serious injuries, including a broken pelvis and injuries to her knee, ankle and shoulder.
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Joubert was working as a rideshare driver at the time of his death. He was also a welder and had received his commercial driver's license only days before he was killed. He was the father of a young son. His family described him as hardworking and said he traveled between Louisiana and the Houston area for work.
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Joubert's mother, his minor son and the injured passenger subsequently filed federal litigation against the City of Houston, the Houston police chief, unidentified Houston police officers and Reyes. The lawsuit alleged that the police pursuit contributed to the fatal collision.
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Reyes was prosecuted for Joubert's death. His first murder trial ended in a mistrial in December 2025 after an issue arose concerning jurors seeing his restraints. In January 2026, Reyes pleaded guilty to murder.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Houston Police Department officers who initiated and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the sources located. Joubert's federal civil-rights litigation named multiple unidentified Houston police officers as defendants and challenged the officers' conduct during the pursuit.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/06/15/he-was-cheated-out-of-his-life-family-of-innocent-driver-killed-during-police-chase-demands-justice/
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/mother-sues-city-of-houston-after-son-dies-in-police-chase-teen-passenger-severely-injured
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/mother-seeks-justice-son-killed-houston-police-chase-demands-change
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/houston-murder-trial-yasmir-reyes-chaz-jourbert-2022-rideshare-crash
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/yasmir-reyes-pleads-guilty-murder-2022-rideshare-crash-police-chase
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txsdce/4%3A2022cv03750/1894178
https://www.jamesfuneralhme.com/obituary/chaz-joubert