Woman hit by Philly police cruiser in park dies

A woman hit by a reversing police cruiser as she walked through a Kensington park last week has died.

Two officers were in a marked patrol car in the course of an investigation about 4:25 p.m. on April 18 when the driver backed over Michelle Kolk as she walked nearby, police said. The incident happened on a paved path in McPherson Square on the 3000 block of F Street. The path is not a public roadway – but is wide enough to accommodate a car and sometimes is used by police vehicles, said Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, a police spokesman.

The officers rushed Kolk, 40, of the 1100 block of Tabor Terrace in Fox Chase, to Temple University Hospital, where she died at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday.

Accident Investigation District detectives are investigating.

Detectives haven’t yet determined how fast the driver reversed nor whether he braked before hitting Kolk, Kinebrew said. Both officers are veterans – the driver has 19 years on the force, and his partner, 10 – assigned to North Philadelphia’s 24th District, Kinebrew said. The driver was pulled from street duty pending the outcome of the investigation, as is standard in such cases, Kinebrew said. 

Family, friends of Michelle Kolk are asking how did the officer in that cruiser not see her, when he backed up in the Kensington park @6abc pic.twitter.com/FR28AhHubO

— Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) April 21, 2017