Officer failed to report deadly hit-and-run in Olney, police say

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia police officer is on administrative leave after investigators said he failed to report a deadly hit-and-run in Olney. The driver is still at large.

It happened around 1:45 a.m. Thursday on Rising Sun Avenue, near Clarkson Avenue, in Olney. Investigators said a 48-year-old man was staggering “with an unsteady gait” in the bike lane and fell.

“The officer goes back to his vehicle, and the officer leaves that location with the victim still observed in the video lying in the street,” said First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford.

A 35th District police officer pulled his cruiser over and talked to the man, then left. However, he was called back to the scene minutes later to find that the man had been hit by a car.

Upon further investigation, police discovered that the police officer failed to render aid and left without making a police report. Medics responded afterward, and the man died a few hours later. He has not been publicly identified.

The officer has been on the force for two years and is now on administrative leave. First Deputy John Stanford said the incident is “extremely disappointing” and “doesn’t fall in line with our practices as a police department.”

“To then not do any component of his responsibility to render aid, nothing as far as his responsibility to do any paperwork on this, conduct an investigation, hold the scene, none of those types of things,” he said.

“That’s troubling for us. That’s not – it goes against everything that we stand for. We talk about empathy, we talk about compassion as an organization. And none of those things were on display.”

While an Internal Affairs investigation is underway, police are also asking for help in identifying the hit-and-run driver.

The car — a green 2023 to 2026 Kia Sportage — was last seen going east on Tabor Road from Rising Sun Avenue.

Anyone with information can submit a tip to police at 215-686-8477 or anonymously online.