An Anchorage police officer responding to a call in early August was speeding and ran a red light when he struck a taxi, killing two people.
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That’s according to Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case, who provided an update on an investigation of the crash in an interview Friday.
It was at 1:10 a.m. on Aug. 1 when officer Kaden Pohl was called to a report of shots being fired.
As Pohl sped toward the scene, Case said, his police vehicle collided with the taxi as it was driving through the intersection of 36th Avenue and A Street, killing driver Cemal Sadiku, 68, and passenger William Phillips, 45. The crash injured three other passengers in the taxi, as well as Pohl.
Investigators have learned more about what happened in the roughly three weeks since the fatal collision, Case said Friday.
“What we know today is that the officer had a red light when he entered the intersection,” Case said. “We know that the officer was going above the posted speed limit when he entered the intersection. We know that the cab was basically going the speed limit when the cab entered the intersection.”
City code allows police officers to run red lights and speed while responding to emergencies. However, the police department updated its policy on July 31 – one day before the collision – to specify howan officer can proceed through a red light, Case said.
“So we just added that little bit into policy, so that it’s not, you know, ‘For me it’s 15 miles an hour, for you it’s 10 miles an hour, for you it’s 20,’” Case said. “We’re talking, it’s stopped, or close to it, to be able to actively clear an intersection. So that’s what our current policy is.”
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Case declined to say whether Pohl had violated the new policy, saying police still have to conduct an internal investigation. Pohl is currently on paid leave related to his own injuries, the chief said.
The police department’s traffic unit is still investigating to determine if Pohl will face any criminal charges, Case said. The state Office of Special Prosecutions is also reviewing the incident.
Case said the internal investigation will occur when the criminal investigation ends.
“So we push that administrative process to the very end, so we don’t impact the criminal case,” Case said. “That’s a little bit hard as the chief to deal with, because now we’re sitting and we’re waiting and we’re waiting for that criminal process to run its course.”
Case said he doesn’t anticipate the criminal investigation to wrap up before the end of the year.
Fatal collisions involving police in Anchorage are rare, with the last one happening 25 years ago, Case said.
Officer Justin Wollam died in 2001 when a drunk driver struck his patrol car head-on during a police chase, in which the driver was going the wrong way on the Glenn Highway.