US cop caught in video laughing over Indian student’s death; probe started
“Just write a check (for) $11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value,” Officer Daniel Auderer can be heard saying in the video through bursts of laughter
An American police officer laughed over the death of an Indian exchange student after being hit by a police car in January this year, joking that she was a “regular person” with “limited value” and that they should “just write a cheque”, the New York Post has reported. The officer’s newly-released bodycam footage has reportedly revealed the incident.
The accident took place in Seattle, where 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula was a master’s student at the Northeastern University. Officer Kevin Dave hit her with his car, killing her, on January 23. His colleague, Officer Daniel Auderer, can reportedly be heard in the footage discussing the investigation into the accident.
“She is dead,” Auderer can be heard saying before bursting out laughing. “No, it’s a regular person,” he says, referring to the student. He can also be heard saying in the video, through bursts of laughter, “Yeah, just write a check (for) $11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.” Kandula was actually 23.
Kandula, a native of Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district, had gone to Northeastern University to pursue a master’s of science information systems at the College of Engineering. She was about to graduate in December.
Probe started
The video of the phone call has been uploaded to the Seattle Police Department’s YouTube page. The department, however, has refused to comment on the matter until the Office of Police Accountability completes its probe.
Auderer, who is the Seattle Police Guild’s vice-president, is also heard saying in the video that he did not believe a criminal investigation was being conducted. “I mean, he was going 50 mph. That’s not out of control. That’s not reckless for a trained driver,” Auderer reportedly says in the video.
However, the area where the accident took place — the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street — was a 25-mph zone and Dave was actually driving at 74 mph, a report released in June revealed. Apparently, he was responding to a “high-priority” call when he hit Kandula. He performed CPR, but could not revive her.
Auderer’s conversation was recorded on the following day when he went to conduct a drug test on Dave. A department employee reportedly identified the shocking call “in the routine course of business” and escalated it to Police Chief Adrian Diaz, who referred it to the Office of Police Accountability.