Seattle police officer heard joking about woman’s death in recording

SEATTLE — Seattle police have launched an investigation after finding bodycam video that showed an officer joking about a 23-year-old woman who died earlier this year after another officer hit her with his patrol car, KIRO-TV reported.

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Authorities announced the internal investigation in a statement Monday, saying that the bodycam video was found by a Seattle Police Department employee “in the routine course of business.” It showed Seattle Police Officers’ Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer laughing with the guild’s president, Mike Solan, as they talked about the death of exchange student Jaahnavi Kandula, KIRO reported.

“Just write a check,” Auderer says on the video before laughing. “$11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.”

Auderer was one of the officers who responded on the night of Jan. 23, after Officer Kevin Dave hit Kandula as he was responding to an emergency call around 8 p.m. Auderer performed a drug recognition test on Dave and found no signs of impairment, according to KIRO.

The timestamp on the video released Monday showed Auderer’s call with Solan happened the day after the crash, the news station reported. The video did not capture Solan’s remarks.

The clip sparked outrage and prompted an apology Wednesday from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. In a statement obtained by KIRO, Harrell said Auderer’s comments “do not reflect the feelings of our city or the communities that call it home.”

“We recognize that Jaahnavi’s death is a loss for our whole community, the loss of a young woman who had so much life ahead of her to do amazing things and share that joy with loved ones,” Harrell said.

Kandula died at Harborview Medical Center after Dave hit her while driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to a report obtained by KIRO in June. Dave said he had his patrol car’s lights on and was chirping his siren around 8 p.m. when he saw Kandula in a crosswalk near Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street.

In the report, investigators said that Dave was traveling at a speed that “did not allow him sufficient time to detect, address and avoid a hazard that presented itself.”

Kandula was a graduate student at Northeastern University who was set to earn her degree in information technology in December, KIRO reported.

Authorities continue to investigate.