PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New surveillance footage shows a Philly police officer interacting with and then leaving a man minutes before he was killed in a hit-and-run. Officials said the officer returned to the scene but failed to render aid or report the incident.
The video comes from a business on Rising Sun Avenue, where a 48-year-old man was struck and killed by a speeding car on Aug. 27 near Olney Avenue.
“It’s very clear what happened,” owner Fernando Suarez, who provided the footage, told NBC10. “And it’s a shame what happened because I love the police; they’ve always taken care of me, and I’m sure they always will. But it’s very apparent.”
The video shows the victim, unsteady on his feet, walking in the bike lane around 1:40 a.m. The officer pulls up in his cruiser alongside the man, seemingly checking on him.
The man then falls on his back in the bike lane; the officer pulls over, gets out and checks on him. He taps his foot a few times and seems to try to talk to the man before leaving in his cruiser.
Minutes later, the man, still lying in the bike lane, is hit by a speeding green Kia Sportage. He later died at the hospital.
The officer was the first to respond to the scene, but investigators said he did not render aid, and he left without making a police report.
Police said they found the Kia involved in the hit-and-run but not the driver. An investigation is ongoing.
The officer, whose identity has not been released, is on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. He’s been on the force for two years.
NBC10 is a broadcast partner of KYW Newsradio.
Investigators say officer left hit-and-run scene without rendering aid to the victim
Investigators say officer left hit-and-run scene without rendering aid to the victim
