Seattle cop who fatally struck grad student while racing to a call dodges criminal charges, receives traffic infraction
A Seattle cop who fatally struck a grad student with his cruiser while responding to a reported overdose has dodged criminal charges — and was instead hit with a traffic infraction.
Officer Kevin Dave received an infraction of second-degree negligent driving in connection with the accident that claimed the life of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula on Jan. 23, 2023, KING 5 reported.
The infraction, filed Friday with the city’s Municipal Court, carries a civil penalty of up to $5,000.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office announced late last month that Dave would not face criminal charges for Kandula’s death.
The cop was responding to an emergency call about a reported overdose and was driving 74 mph in a 25-mph zone when he struck the Indian student, who was thrown 138 feet while she had the right of way.
Officer Daniel Auderer, who was called to the scene to determine whether Dave had been impaired, got on the phone with Seattle Police Officers Guild president Mike Solan and forgot to shut off his body-worn camera.
He was heard laughing and suggesting that Kandula’s life had “limited value” and saying the city should “just write a check.”
The graduate student at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus arrived in the US from Bengaluru, India, in 2021 and was set to graduate in December 2023.
The prosecutor’s office noted that Dave had on his emergency lights but did not have his siren activated continuously in a report released in June 2023.
The report also noted that Kandula appeared to try to run across the road after seeing his vehicle approaching.
She also might have been wearing wireless earbuds that could have diminished her hearing, officials said when announcing that Dave would not face a felony charge of vehicular homicide.
“There is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ofc. Dave was consciously disregarding safety,” the prosecutor’s office said in a report, which also noted the accident occurred in part due to his speed, NBC 15 reported.
“Even if prosecutors could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a uniformed police officer traveling at 74 mph in response to a legitimate emergency call in a fully marked patrol car with lights and sirens was negligent, negligent driving does not meet the legal threshold for felony criminal charges under Washington State law,” the report stated.
Dave applied the brakes as he reacted to Kandula in the intersection and managed to slow to 63 mph at the time of impact, officials said.
The Seattle Police Department submitted the citation referral to the City Attorney’s Office after the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced its decision not to file criminal charges.
On Sunday, a solidarity walk to seek justice for Kandula was held.
“If not us, then who will stand with her, and if we are not here, then no one will know what happened to her,” Aman Mahajan, who attended the walk, told KOMO News.
“If someone else would have been behind the wheel, would they have been given the same traffic violation, so why the special treatment is being given to those authorities,” Mahajan added.
Deepali Jamwal, one of the organizers of the walk, said that “for someone to just walk scot-free right after taking someone’s life is not OK and we need accountability.”
A petition addressed to Seattle and Washington state officials, including Gov. Jay Inslee, and President Biden has garnered more than 234,000 signatures as of Monday morning.
“The Indian community in the entire country and world demand justice for Jaahnavi Kandula, and is asking for the officers to be held accountable,” the petition states.
“Not only was she mowed down like nothing, but the conversation of the officers after the event are utterly disgraceful and a shame to humanity. We demand that those officers be discharged from their duties, with no pension, and this incident be treated as manslaughter, and prosecuted,” it says.
Auderer has claimed that his cold-hearted laughter and jokes were taken out of context during a private call that he didn’t know was being recorded by his department-issued body camera.
At the end of his conversation with Solan, he said the city should just pay for the tragedy caused by his fellow officer.
“Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26 anyway,” he said, misstating the victim’s age. “She had limited value.”
Auderer later claimed he was responding to comments made by Solan that were not picked up by the cameras.
“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.
“I understand that without context the comment could be interpreted as horrifying and crude. Without context the comment is insensitive to the family of the victim when in reality I was involved in a conversation regarding the callousness of the legal system,” Auderer added.
Kandula’s family said it was “truly disturbing and saddening to hear insensible comments” that were made in the body-camera video.
Auderer is awaiting a disciplinary hearing, which was originally scheduled for Monday but has been rescheduled to April 1, KING 5 reported.
His chain of command and the Office of Police Accountability found that he acted unprofessionally, according to the outlet.
The officer reportedly faces a range of penalties — from about two weeks of suspension up to termination.
“It is the Office of Police Accountability that bears the responsibility of disciplinary investigation and proceedings relating to Officer Auderer’s comment,” King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion said.
India’s government also demanded an investigation of the death through its San Francisco consulate.
With Post wires
