Seattle police officer appears to joke, laugh about woman fatally struck by patrol car
Seattle police released bodycam video of an officer who appeared to laugh while speaking to a colleague about a pedestrian who was killed when she was struck by a speeding patrol car. (Credit: Seattle Police Department)
The Seattle Police Department released bodycam video Monday showing what appears to be an officer joking and laughing after a woman was struck and killed by a patrol car in January – as the officer reportedly claimed the incident was being taken out of context.
The footage from officer Daniel Auderer’s body-worn camera was taken on Jan. 24, the day after a Seattle police car driven by another officer hit Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old Northeastern University student, in a crosswalk while responding to an overdose call.
"He’s going 50 [mph]. That's not out of control. That's not reckless for a trained driver," the officer can be heard telling a colleague about the fatal collision, adding that he did not think there was a criminal investigation being carried out.
Police, however, said that the officer driving the patrol car was traveling at 74 mph in a 25-mph zone while responding to a priority-one call at the time of the fatal collision, FOX13 Seattle reported.
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The Seattle police officer was speaking to a colleague while driving his patrol car on Jan. 24, the day after a different officer fatally struck a pedestrian while responding to a call. (Seattle Police Department )
"But she is dead," the officer says toward the end of the video clip before laughing. "No, it’s a regular person. Yeah, just write a check," the officer says before laughing again. "Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value."
A department employee heard the officer's statements and became concerned, alerting superiors, police said. (Seattle Police Department )
Police said the video was shared "in the interest of transparency," and added that the department reserves comment pending the completion of an Office of Police Accountability investigation.
According to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH, the officer had turned himself in over the comments, which the officer says were taken out of context as they were discussing city lawyers in regards to the case.
"During that phone call [Seattle Police Officers Guild President] Mike Solan stated something to the effect that it was unfortunate that this would turn into lawyers arguing ‘the value of human life,'" Auderer wrote, according to the complaint obtained by the outlet. "Mike Solan asked me as he was lamenting the loss of life similar to: ‘What crazy argument can a lawyer make in something like this? What crazy thing can they come up with?'"
Auderer said his response was intended to mock the city lawyers.
"I responded with something like: ‘She’s 26 years old. What value is there? Who cares?’ I intended the comment as a mockery of lawyers. I was imitating what a lawyer tasked with negotiating the case would be saying and being sarcastic to express that they shouldn’t be coming up with crazy arguments to minimize the payment," he said in the complaint. "I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how I watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy."
The Seattle Police Department's Office of Police Accountability is investigating the context of the statements. (Seattle Police Department )
Police said that a department employee, whom they did not identify, had heard the exchange and notified their superiors out of concern over the statements that were heard.
Seattle police said the department has been in touch with the victim’s family and "extend our deepest sympathy for this tragic collision."
