Driver charged in Blue Valley student’s death thought he hit the brakes, records say
A driver accused of hitting a Blue Valley middle school student with a car and killing her as she walked home last year told police he thought he was stepping on the brake pedal but the car kept going, according to charging documents released Tuesday.
The driver, 71-year-old Sudhir S. Gandhi, faces one count of reckless second-degree murder in the April 12, 2019, crash in Overland Park that left 14-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Rumple fatally injured. The Johnson County District Attorney’s Office filed the murder charge against Gandhi earlier this month.
In a statement to The Star Tuesday, Gandhi’s defense attorney Keith Drill said the incident was “a terrible, horrible accident,” and said Gandhi intends to fight the murder charge in court.
In an interview with police, Gandhi said he believed he pressed on the brake pedal, but instead of stopping the car continued to accelerate, according to an affidavit filed in Johnson County District Court.
Gandhi told police he didn’t know what to do, so he decided to steer the car away from other vehicles stopped on the road and drive onto the sidewalk. He said he wasn’t able to stop the car after that.
Witnesses reported seeing the car driving up onto the sidewalk and hitting the teen as she was walking along the sidewalk at Switzer Road, near 123rd Street. The crash happened about 3:15 p.m., blocks from Oxford Middle School where classes had dismissed for the day.
One witness who was behind the driver told police the car, traveling north on Switzer Road, moved right and abruptly jumped the curb near the intersection with 124th Street. “No brake lights were observed,” court records note.
The car entered the intersection and continued onto the sidewalk, almost hitting three juvenile pedestrians, court records said. It hit a small sign, a bush and a cable box before striking Rumple.
Court records state the impact caused the teen to vault onto the hood of the car, the teen’s head hit the windshield and she was thrown off, landing on the street.
The car then continued on the sidewalk, striking a signal pole and a speed limit sign. It veered on and off the road before striking a wooden fence and coming to a stop on Switzer Road, near 121st Street.
From the first time the car left the road to when it stopped, Gandhi had traveled almost half a mile, court records note.
Rumple was taken to a hospital, where she died from the injuries April 14.
Investigation
Gandhi was taken to a hospital and evaluated by doctors, who “found no apparent medical cause for the crash,” the affidavit said.
Gandhi said he did not recall hitting any pedestrians but said he remembered hitting the fence and putting the car in “park” once it came to a stop.
A vehicle inspector found no issues with the car’s brakes, steering, suspension or engine throttle control systems, court records state.
The district attorney’s office on Jan. 15 charged Gandhi with reckless second-degree murder, which alleges that Gandhi “unlawfully, feloniously and unintentionally but recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life” killed the teen.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said prosecutors would not comment on the charge.
In an emailed statement, Drill, Gandhi’s attorney, said, “Mr. Gandhi denies the State’s allegations and intends to vigorously defend this murder charge in court. Beyond that, we can’t comment further until we have had a chance to examine the State’s evidence.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled March 4.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 5:51 PM.
