Bond was set at $250,000 Saturday for 30-year-old John Wesley Nero of Beaumont in Southeast Texas. He remained in a hospital in serious condition for injuries he sustained in the Friday night crash.

Beaumont Police Chief Frank Coffin said 36-year-old Officer Bryan Mitchell Hebert (HE'-burt) was retrieving road spikes from his trunk to try to stop the SUV when the vehicle struck the patrol car head-on, pushing it into the officer.

Hebert, who served 10 years with the department, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police say the suspect had assaulted his mother and grandmother Friday evening.