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A Prince George's County police officer involved in a car accident Feb. 27 while responding to a call, died Tuesday night of his injuries sustained in the crash.

Officer Thomas Paul Jensen, 27, had been hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at Prince George's Hospital Center since the crash that occurred when he lost control of his vehicle on a patch of black ice and collided with a telephone pole in College Park, said county police spokesman Cpl. Clinton Copeland.

Jensen was responding to a priority call around 6:55 a.m. to assist the fire department with a disorderly person who was believed to be under the influence of PCP, Copeland said. He was driving on Baltimore Avenue when he lost control at the intersection of Greenbelt Road.

Jensen, a Bowie resident, was working patrol out of the District 1 police station in Hyattsville and was a member of the county police department for five years. He had followed in the steps of his father, retired Sgt. Tom Jensen, in joining the department, said county Police Chief Roberto Hylton.

"Officer Jensen was a beloved member of our police family and his loss is a huge blow to all of us," Hylton said in a statement.  "I worked with officer Jensen's father and remember when officer Jensen was born ... Officer Jensen grew up in Prince George's County; he is truly one of our own." 

Jensen, an avid hockey player, was always eager to help out those around him, said Tony MacAulay, the hockey director at DeMatha Catholic High School, where Jensen graduated in 2000.

"When he was a player at DeMatha he was so well liked by his teammates," MacAulay said. "He would do anything for his team and I think that translated well into his profession because I don't think there is anything he wouldn't do to try to help someone."

Even after graduation, Jensen kept close ties with his DeMatha family and came back often to work security at school basketball games, MacAulay said.

Jensen never expressed an obvious determination to become a police officer when he was young but seemed well suited for it, MacAulay said.

"You could tell that there was always that sense of pride that he had when he put that uniform on," he said.

Jensen leaves behind his wife of five months, Kristelle Jensen.

Funeral arrangements were still being prepared at press time.

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.