Applebee’s employee dies in parking lot while celebrating July 4, Texas police say

A Fourth of July celebration in Texas came to a tragic end when a woman fell from a moving vehicle in an Applebee’s parking lot and died early Sunday, officials say.

Around 12:30 a.m., police said a 24-year-old Applebee’s employee and some of her coworkers decided to set off fireworks in the Houston restaurant’s parking lot after closing for the night, KHOU reported.

Not long after, five people — including three small children — loaded into a Toyota Highlander to head to a larger area of the parking lot, according to the outlet.

The 24-year-old woman and an 18-year-old friend stood on the rear bumper, KPRC reported. As the car moved, the 24-year-old woman fell and hit her head on the pavement, police said, according to the outlet.

The driver told police the car was moving 5 miles-per-hour at the time the woman fell, KPRC reported.

Paramedics took the woman to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Her name has not been released.

“Unfortunately, just a tragic mistake today,” Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s Sgt. Dashana Cheek-McNeal told the Chronicle.

No one else was injured in the incident, but police told KHOU that those at the scene were “shaken up.”

The incident remains under investigation, KPRC reported.