Viral Video shows US cop joking about Indian student killed by patrol car driven by fellow officer
A Seattle Police Department officer has become the subject of an inquiry after recently leaked bodycam video captured him joking and laughing over the phone about an Indian student who was killed by a police vehicle being driven by another officer.
On January 23, while strolling along Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street, 23-year-old Northeastern University student Jaahnavi Kandula was struck by a Seattle Police car being operated by Kevin Dave.
According to KIRO 7 news station, the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, Daniel Auderer, is heard stating, “she had limited value” in a conversation with Mike Solan, the guild’s president, while driving and is visible in the short video.
Auderer chuckles and refers to Kandula as “just a regular person” shortly after declaring “she’s dead.”
“Just write a check for $11,000, she was 26 anyway, she had limited value,” he continues.
Dave was “going 50 (miles per hour),” according to Auderer, and for an experienced driver, “that’s not out of control.”
Kandula was struck and flung more than 100 feet, according to a police investigation that was made public in June. The investigation revealed that Dave was really traveling at 74 mph in a 25 mph zone while responding to a separate emergency.
The footage of Auderer’s call was “identified in the routine course of business by a department employee,” according to a statement issued by the SPD on Monday. It was then escalated to Chief Adrian Diaz.
According to the statement, after following the line of command, the employee referred the situation to the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) for evaluation.
The SPD said that it made the footage public “in the interest of transparency” and that it won’t make any additional comments about the video until the OPA has finished its investigation.
“No City employee should comment, either in their official or personal capacity, in a way that suggests that any factual, policy, or legal conclusions have been reached about the incident,” according to the SPD statement.
“SPD has maintained contact with the victim pedestrian’s family and continues to respect their stated desire for privacy. We once again send our sincere condolences for this unfortunate tragedy while other members of the accountability system continue with their job,” the statement said.
On the day of the incident, at 8 pm, Dave was responding to a “high priority” call when he crashed into Kandula.
In a bodycam video taken at the intersection where Dave sped up to 74 miles per hour at one point, exceeding the legal limits, it can be heard Dave admitting, “I f***ed up,” following the collision.
In 2021, Kandula set off for the US for the first time from Adoni in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.
The family had nothing to say, her Texas-based uncle Ashok Mandula told the Seattle Times. However, I ponder if the daughters or granddaughters of these individuals are worthwhile. Every life is unique.
