September 14, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
The Philadelphia Police Department is firing an officer who allegedly left a man lying in a bike lane moments before he was fatally struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run.
The Philadelphia Police Department said it will fire an officer who allegedly left a man lying in a bike lane before he was fatally run over by a vehicle in Olney last month.
The officer, whose name has not been released, approached Eugene Beauford, 48, just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 27, but he left the area after the victim fell to the ground. Moments later, Beauford was struck and killed by a vehicle in a hit-and-run. While the officer returned to the scene, he failed to investigate or file a police report. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Monday that the officer has been placed on a 30-day suspension with the intent to dismiss.
The driver involved in the fatal crash has been identified, Bethel said, but no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed as the investigation continues.
The officer worked for the department for two years in the 35th District. His name has not been released because of the ongoing probe and the administrative process of PPD, said Bethel, who added that he felt "disgusted" by his actions and it was determined that the officer failed to take appropriate action during the incident.
"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 said. "And those are the things that the officer has to think about now as he goes about whatever he may be doing after he leaves the police department."
Video from nearby city and surveillance cameras showed Beauford walking in the bike lane at the corner of E. Clarkson and Rising Sun avenues with what police described as an "unsteady gait" when he was approached by the officer in a patrol car. Beauford fell to the ground, and the officer stopped the car and got out to talk to him. But then he returned to his car and left the scene while Beauford was still lying on the ground.
A person then walked up to check on the victim and a car stopped on the road at the scene. At 1:46 a.m., a green Kia SUV drove into the bike lane to go around that car and struck Beauford. A second person then arrived at the scene, and they moved the victim out of the bike lane and called 911.
The PPD officer who was initially at the scene returned and waited for the arrival of medics. Police did not formally launch an investigation until the medical examiner contacted the crash division and detectives learned no report had been made.
"I can't train compassion, I can't train empathy," Bethel said. "Unfortunately, there are times when individuals may not exhibit those qualities, and as a result of that, they can no longer be serving in this police department."
Bethel added that "soon" the department plans to ramp up investigations in these types of hit-and-run cases, including utilizing the reward fund.
