City will pay $495K in 2017 death of woman hit by police car in Kensington park
Michelle Kolk, 40, died in April 2017, a week after being hit by a police car backing up in Kensington's McPherson Square.
The City of Philadelphia has agreed to pay $495,000 to the estate of a woman who died after a police car hit her in a Kensington park two years ago.
Michelle Kolk, 40, of Northeast Philadelphia, died at Temple University Hospital a week after she was hit about 4:25 p.m. April 18, 2017, by a police car backing up in McPherson Square on the 3000 block of F Street.
Andrew Richman, chief of staff for the Law Department, on Friday confirmed the settlement amount, which was reached in January. He declined to comment on the settlement.
Police have said that two 24th District officers had been conducting an investigation in the park and were trying to stop someone when they rushed back to their cruiser, parked on a paved pedestrian-and-vehicle path. That’s when, police have said, the driver, a 17-year veteran, put the car in reverse and struck Kolk.
A video shot by a bystander showed that after she was hit, the two officers carried the unconscious Kolk from the path to the police car before they rushed her to the hospital.
A police investigator had said in April 2017 that the officer driving the vehicle had not seen Kolk behind his car.
The settlement results from a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in Common Pleas Court in January 2018 against the city and Police Officer Matthew Quinn. The lawsuit named Quinn as the officer who had been driving the car that hit Kolk.
“This collision resulted solely from the negligence and the recklessness of the defendants herein and was not caused by any act or failure to act on the part of Michelle,” said the lawsuit, filed by attorney Edward F. Chacker. Chacker did not respond to an emailed request for comment Friday afternoon.
The lawsuit contended that Quinn failed to properly operate the vehicle, was driving inattentively, and failed to keep a proper lookout, among other alleged acts of negligence or carelessness. It contended that “Quinn ran over Michelle twice.”
A city lawyer, in a written response to the lawsuit, denied those allegations.
A police spokesperson said by email Friday that the Accident Investigation District had completed its investigation into the incident and found that no criminal charges were warranted.
Quinn, who had been placed on non-driving status after hitting Kolk, has since returned to driving and is working in the Seventh District in Bustleton, the spokesperson said.
Kolk, previously of Bucks County, had been living in Northeast Philadelphia at the time, and left two daughters, who at the time were 7 months and 7 years old, family members have said.
Staff writer Samantha Melamed contributed to this article.