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Anchorage Officer in Deadly Taxi Crash Sped Through Red Light, Police Chief Says

An Anchorage police officer responding to gunfire reports with lights and sirens ran a red light and struck a taxi, killing the driver and a passenger, according to police.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 21, 2026, 8:44 p.m. ETWritten Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 a.m. ET
An police officer responding to reports of gunfire ran a red light and collided with a taxi early Saturday, killing the taxi driver and a passenger, according to the Police Department. The crash occurred at on August 1, 2026, on 36th Avenue, where the speed limit is 40 mph. The officer's emergency lights and sirens were activated, police said. The taxi driver was identified as 68-year-old Cemal Sadiku, and the passenger as 45-year-old William Phillips. The officer and three other passengers in the taxi were hospitalized. The officer is the same one who fatally shot a shoplifting suspect in June, according to the Daily News. The investigation is ongoing. The Police Department, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, and the State Department of Law's Office of Special Prosecutions are investigating. Traffic investigators have yet to complete their investigation and are waiting on toxicology results and other factors, such as whether the vehicle's mechanical condition played a role. The cause of the crash has not been determined.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
128 ft
Nearest aerodrome
1.7 miles W of Merrill Field (PAMR/MRI)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 122 Aug 2026, 09:45current

    First published.

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