Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel announced Monday that he has decided to fire an officer who left a man lying in the street moments before he was killed in a hit-and-run crash last month in Olney.
The officer, whose name has not been released, has been suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss, Bethel said. He joined the department two years ago and was assigned to the 35th Police District.
Five minutes before 48-year-old Eugene Beauford was run over Aug. 27, the officer spotted him walking unsteadily in the bicycle lane on the 5500 block of Rising Sun Avenue, according to authorities. When Beauford fell over, his body partially extending into traffic, the officer got out of his patrol car and briefly interacted with him before leaving, investigators said.
“There was no job that would have pulled you away to leave somebody laying out in the street, to allow them to get run over,” Bethel told reporters.
At around 1:45 a.m., a vehicle stopped, possibly due to Beauford’s presence in the road, law enforcement officials added. A driver in a Kia SUV behind them veered into the bike lane to pass and struck Beauford, according to the PPD.
Bethel said detectives have identified the person who was behind the wheel and that they are now cooperating with the probe. The investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed, he added.
In the aftermath of the crash, the officer was the first member of the police department on the scene. Authorities said he did not aid Beauford or file a report about the collision. Crash detectives did not find out about the incident until hours later, when the Medical Examiner’s Office reached out, according to law enforcement. Bethel indicated that police do not know why Beauford was apparently acting erratically.
The commissioner, during a Monday afternoon news conference at the department's headquarters, said he “felt disgusted” after watching surveillance footage that circulated on local television and social media.
“I can’t train compassion,” Bethel responded, when asked if the PPD intended to change any of its professional development standards. "I can’t train empathy.”
The officer’s body camera was not turned on during the exchange. Bethel declined to detail the officer’s explanation to the PPD, but he commented, “What he did share did not move the needle in my decision as to having him suspended and dismissed from the department.”
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the union representing city officers, did not respond to a request for comment.
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