NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) today released its report on the death of Sabeeh Alalkawi, who died on February 22, 2023, in a motor vehicle collision involving a member of the Troy Police Department (TPD) in Rensselaer County. Following a thorough investigation, which included review and analysis of video footage from multiple security cameras, a civilian dashboard camera, and police body worn cameras, interviews of civilian witnesses, and comprehensive legal analysis, OSI determined that a prosecutor would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the involved officer committed a crime, and therefore criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.

Shortly after midnight on February 22, 2023, a TPD officer was responding to a 911 call in a marked vehicle with his turret lights activated. The officer was traveling westbound on Hoosick Street, a main road in Troy that intersects with 15th Street. As the officer approached the intersection, he had a red light and slowed down from 88 MPH to 65 MPH. Mr. Alalkawi was driving southbound on 15th Street and had a green light as he approached the intersection with Hoosick Street. When Mr. Alalkawi drove into the intersection, he was struck by the officer’s vehicle.

Under OSI’s analysis of New York’s Vehicle & Traffic Law, Penal Law, and case law articulated by New York’s highest court, a police officer who causes a death while properly responding in a police vehicle to an emergency cannot be charged with a crime unless the officer acts recklessly or intentionally. The criminal charge that requires recklessness is Manslaughter in the Second Degree, in which a person is guilty when they recklessly cause the death of another person. Recklessly means that the actor consciously disregards a “substantial and unjustifiable” risk of death and that their actions are a “gross deviation” from a reasonable standard of conduct.

In this case, while the officer is responsible for Mr. Alalkawi’s death, the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s conduct was a gross deviation from the standard that would have been observed by a reasonable officer in the same circumstances, or that the officer consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death. The officer was speeding because he was responding to an emergency. He took precautions before passing through the red light by activating his emergency lights and sirens and braking, when he did see Mr. Alalkawi, slowing from 88 MPH to 65 MPH. The officer also turned the wheel in an apparent attempt to avoid the collision. There was no evidence that the officer was impaired by drugs or alcohol, was texting, on a phone call, or otherwise distracted. Therefore, OSI concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.