Off duty Tempe police officer Scott Saffell died in a motorcycle-car wreck at an Ahwatukee intersection. The motorcyclist was proceeding straight through southbound 48th Street, when the unnamed driver made a bad left just north of Elliot Road. The “enhanced” criminal traffic charge would be 28-672.
I don’t know why they don’t release the 24-yo female driver’s name. Now looking up court records to find out if she will actually be charged becomes that much more difficult.
According to police, according to the driver this is “Looked but Failed to See” collision.
ASDM
Adot Incident=2582147. Phoenix file number 201101729269; which translates to 11001729269 for online report from CoP, the ACR is available online.
The sedan driver was charged in Phx Municipal court, case M-0741-4562358 with 28-672 and plead guilty. It was filed 8/6/2012 (seems like a long delay).
New Story
phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever
Tempe police officer Scott Saffell, 40, died yesterday afternoon in Ahwatukee after his personal motorcycle collided with a car that made a left-hand turn in front of him.
This is one reason riding a motorcycle is risky: Other drivers. And the “car-makes-left-turn” collision is one of the most feared by riders.
Phoenix police Sergeant Steve Martos tells us that police aren’t sure why the 24-year-old driver of the Chrysler sedan didn’t yield to Saffell, who had been riding southbound on 48th Street when she attempted to make a left turn near Elliot Road. By all appearances, he says, it looks like a tragic accident.
The woman’s name isn’t being released at this time, Martos says. She doesn’t seem to have been impaired on drugs or alcohol, and Saffell wasn’t speeding.
“Her claim is she simply didn’t see him,” he says.
Saffell had been wearing a leather jacket and helmet. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police are still reviewing the case, but police could end up seeking an “enhanced” failure-to-yield criminal traffic charge because the victim died, Martos says.