ALASKA'S NEWSPAPER

Help | Follow on Twitter | alaska.com

| Updated: 8:49 PM

Midtown pedestrian struck and killed by police car

ON 911 CALL: Man might have been trying to flag down officer on dark street.

An Anchorage police officer driving to a 911 call struck and killed a pedestrian in Midtown on Friday night, police said.

Story tools

Comments (0)

Add to My Yahoo!

Christopher Joseph, 49, of Anchorage, was hit on Arctic Boulevard south of the 36th Avenue intersection about 11 p.m., Lt. Dave Parker said.

In accordance with department policy, the officer's name will be released in three days.

Joseph, who died of injuries at the scene, lived nearby with his brother Michael Joseph, who said he thought his brother might have been trying to flag down the patrol car.

"I didn't get the whole story," he said Saturday afternoon. "They said he just jumped in front of them."

Standing in the doorway of the apartment he shared with his brother, Joseph said two police officers had come to talk to him, but that he didn't feel much like talking to them. He described his brother as a good man who never got into fights.

"Right now, I'm really mad at Jesus," he said. "He takes away the kindest people I know."

The police officer who hit Joseph was driving southbound on Arctic responding to a "nearby '911 hang-up call,' " Parker said.

"The first officer to the 911 hang-up scene reported he heard a loud disturbance inside the residence from which the call originated," Parker wrote. "The officer involved in the collision was not driving in 'code 3' mode (emergency lights and siren)."

The road was dark and it was raining at the time of the accident.

"The officer's vehicle was in the far right lane, southbound," Parker said in an interview Saturday. He didn't know how fast the officer was traveling, or if there were witnesses.

The department's major collision response team began an investigation Friday night, he said.

"They come out, collect evidence at the scene," Parker said. "Then it goes into a traffic accident reconstruction phase, where they try to reconstruct the accident."

As is standard procedure in any accident involving a municipal employee, breath and body fluid samples were taken from the officer, Parker said.

Parker said he didn't know the results.

An autopsy will be performed on Joseph, he said. Toxicology reports were not available Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments

UPDATE ON COMMENTS POLICY: Read before posting | Edit your profile and avatar »

By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to adn.com's user agreement.

Pets

Find puppies, kittens, and all pet supplies and services here. More...

other transportation

Other Transportation

Find great deals on bicycles, snowmachines, ATV's, watrcraft and airplanes. More...

Merchandise, Miscellaneous

Antiques, apparel, even the kitchen sink. Find deals on general merchandise here. More...

More great deals »