The former assistant chief of the Converse Police Department was killed Tuesday night when his vehicle was rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver, authorities said Wednesday.

Rodney Rheiner, 58, died shortly after the crash, which occurred at about 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 14300 block of Nacogdoches Road in San Antonio, police from the metropolitan community reported Wednesday. 

Police said Rheiner, who retired from the Converse Police Department in 2017 after a 27-year career, was the passenger in a vehicle stopped at a red light at the intersection of Friesenhahn Drive when the SUV was struck from behind. The driver of the SUV has not been publicly identified.

The driver of the second vehicle, 23-year-old Jeanna-Nicole Bernice Coutros, reportedly was driving recklessly. She had been pulled over by San Antonio police prior to the crash, but she sped off.

Emergency responders transported Rheiner to the Brooke Army Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead from his injuries.

Coutros since has been arrested on charges of intoxicated manslaughter and evading arrest, police said.

Converse police officials on Wednesday published a social media post stating they were “saddened’ to learn of Rodney “Rex” Rheiner’s death.

“(Rheiner) was known as a strong man of both faith and family,” officials wrote in the post. “There would seldom be a time he would speak to you without talking about the accomplishments of his sons or showing you a photograph of his grandchildren.

“The loss of any life is sad,” the post continued. “The fact that Assistant Chief Rheiner dedicated his life to serving the community as a law enforcement officer only to be killed by a suspected drunk driver while in retirement is truly a tragedy.”

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