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Cemal Sadiku

Age : 68

Gender : Male

Race : Middle Eastern

Date : 08/01/2026

Location : 36th Avenue and A Street

City : Anchorage

County : Anchorage

State : Alaska

Agency : Anchorage Police Department

Officer(s) :Kaden Pohl

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Taxi driver killed in collision with police vehicle

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/01/2026, at approximately 1:10 a.m., Anchorage Police Department Officer Kaden Pohl was driving a marked patrol vehicle westbound while responding to a call for service. Pohl entered the intersection of 36th Avenue and A Street as 68-year-old Cemal Sadiku drove a taxicab northbound through the same intersection. The police vehicle and taxicab collided near the middle of the intersection with sufficient force that both vehicles caught fire.

Sadiku, who was driving the taxi, died at the scene. His front-seat passenger, 45-year-old William Phillips, also died. Three passengers seated in the rear of the taxi survived and were transported to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. Pohl was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and was released by August 3.

Police Chief Sean Case said Pohl’s emergency lights were activated while he was responding to the call. Case said investigators still needed to determine whether the patrol vehicle’s siren was operating. APD has not publicly identified the nature or urgency of the call, Pohl’s speed, which vehicle had the traffic signal, or the precise sequence that placed both vehicles in the intersection. The department opened both a traffic investigation and an internal investigation into Pohl’s driving. The case number is 26-20211.

Pohl joined APD in December 2020. Approximately six weeks before Sadiku’s death, Pohl fatally shot 33-year-old Deandrea Robertson during a June 16, 2026 encounter inside the loss-prevention office at the Walmart on Old Seward Highway. Police had entered the confined room for a reported retail theft. During a struggle involving Robertson and three officers, Robertson produced a concealed handgun and fired. One bullet wounded Officer Trevor Amburn in the leg, and another struck Pohl’s ballistic plate. Pohl then fired and killed Robertson. Officer Tae Yoon suffered hearing damage and temporary vision impairment from the gunfire. Pohl was placed on four days of administrative leave under department policy and had returned to duty before the August 1 fatal crash. The Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions was reviewing that shooting when the traffic collision occurred.

Pohl was also named in a 2023 federal civil-rights lawsuit filed by Brenda Boudreau concerning a February 19, 2023 traffic stop. Boudreau alleged that officers broke her vehicle window, forcibly removed and handcuffed her, searched her and impounded her vehicle without lawful grounds. The claims against Pohl and the other officers were dismissed with prejudice in August 2025; the dismissal was not a finding that Pohl had committed misconduct.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/08/01/apd-36th-closed-due-collision-with-injuries/
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/08/03/police-name-2-killed-car-crash-involving-apd-officer/
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2026/08/01/2-die-in-midtown-collision-with-anchorage-police-vehicle-police-say/
https://www.anchoragepolice.com/news/traffic-investigation-a-street-and-36th-closed
https://alaskapublic.org/news/anchorage/2026-06-25/man-killed-in-shootout-with-officer-at-anchorage-walmart-had-a-shoplifting-accomplice-police-say
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/06/25/live-police-provide-update-walmart-police-shooting-that-left-suspect-dead-three-officers-hurt/
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/alaska/akdce/3%3A2023cv00164/71814/52/