Report: SPD officer was traveling at 74 mph before hitting and killing pedestrian in January

The Seattle police officer that struck and killed a pedestrian in January was driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone while heading to an emergency call, as first reported by Publicola and then verified by a recently acquired report by KIRO 7 News.

In January, the Seattle Police Department identified the officer who struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula with a patrol vehicle as Officer Kevin Austin Dave.

Dave was responding to an emergency call on Jan. 23 when he hit Kandula near Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street just after 8 p.m.

According to the newly acquired report, Dave said, “Lights were on, was chirping the siren as I was headed down. She was in the crosswalk, she saw me, she started running through the crosswalk. Slammed on my brakes. Instead of staying back where she should before crossing, she just zips...”

Dave said Kandula was in the crosswalk when he approached the intersection. Dave did not have his siren activated continuously, but “chirped” his siren at intersections.

According to the report, Dave accelerated to 74 mph in the 25 mph zone, when he entered the crosswalk. The report says the speed Dave was traveling “did not allow him sufficient time to detect, address and avoid a hazard that presented itself.”

“Had Ofc. Dave been travelling 50 MPH or less as he approached the intersection and encountered and Ofc. DAVE and responded in the same manner; this collision would not have occurred,” the report concluded.

Following the crash, officers performed CPR while waiting for Seattle Fire Department medics to arrive. Once medics were at the scene, they took over lifesaving measures and transported Kandula to Harborview Medical Center, where she later died.

A drug recognition expert responded to the scene and found no signs of impairment in Dave, according to Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.

Dave has been with the department since Nov. 2019 and is certified as an EMT.

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