Woman run over by police car in Kensington park dies
Michelle Kolk, of Northeast Philadelphia, was a mother of two daughters.
A woman who was run over by a police cruiser in a Kensington park a week earlier has died, police said Wednesday.
Michelle Kolk, 40, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday.
Police have said that about 4:25 p.m. April 18, two police officers were in a cruiser on a path for pedestrians and authorized vehicles in McPherson Square, near F and Clearfield Streets, while conducting an investigation, when the driver of the cruiser reversed and struck a woman.
Denise Dietrich, 49, of Fox Chase, a sister of Kolk's boyfriend, said last week that Kolk was unconscious after being struck and had been on life support. She said Kolk's injuries included a broken pelvis, broken ribs, and a large cut across her face.
After the car struck the woman, the two officers placed the victim into their police car and rushed her to Temple University Hospital.
Dietrich has said that Kolk lived with her boyfriend in Northeast Philadelphia and is previously from Bucks County. Kolk has two daughters, ages 7 months and 7 years old.
An investigator said Thursday that the cruiser had been parked before the officers got in and the driver reversed. There was "no question he [the driver] didn't see her," said the investigator, who did not want his name published. "No question he didn't know she was there."
Investigators are trying to determine what Kolk was doing in the paved path behind the police cruiser.
Police spokesman Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said Wednesday after a news conference on unrelated matters that Kolk's death was "regrettable" and sent his condolences to her family. He said the investigation into how the officer driving the car struck Kolk remains ongoing with the police Accident Investigation District.
The two male officers with the 24th District remain on full duty, he said, but the one who was driving, a 17-year veteran, has been placed on non-driving status at his commander's discretion.
Kinebrew has said Kolk was "absolutely an innocent bystander" and was not part of the police investigation in the park. He declined to say what the officers were initially investigating, except to say "they were trying to stop" someone.