Anchorage, Alaska: Pedestrian Killed in Hit-and-Run at Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road

Update: driver arrested, pedestrian identified

Updated 10:06 UTC. Police have identified the pedestrian killed early Monday as Carl Simmonds, 42, and have arrested the driver they say struck him and left the scene. In an updated release, the Anchorage Police Department said officers located the suspect vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe, on November 9. The driver, Jack Sabato, 32, was arrested and remanded at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on charges of leaving the scene of an accident without assisting the injured and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. The charges are allegations, and no finding of fault has been made.

Charging documents cited by KTUU and Alaska Public Media say video from a Blood Bank of Alaska camera shows a white Chevrolet Tahoe hitting Simmonds near Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road at about 5:35 a.m., with no apparent attempt to slow down. PEOPLE reported that investigators found the Tahoe at the Anchorage Amazon warehouse with fresh damage to its front passenger side corner. The documents say Sabato called police that afternoon and said he had hit an animal while driving home from DoorDash deliveries, and that he told officers he did not stop because he was afraid he did not have insurance. Court records reviewed by PEOPLE list one felony charge and one misdemeanor charge. Sabato is the son of actors Antonio Sabato Jr. and Virginia Madsen, PEOPLE reported. He was scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday afternoon, KTUU reported.

A pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run early Monday in East Anchorage, and police are asking anyone with surveillance footage from the area to come forward. Officers and Anchorage Fire Department medics were called to the intersection of Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road at about 5:48 a.m. on November 9 after a report of an unresponsive man, the Anchorage Police Department said.

When officers arrived, they found an adult man at the intersection. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The department said its preliminary investigation indicates the man was a pedestrian who had been struck by a vehicle, and that the vehicle then fled the scene.

What police have said

Police logged the case as APD case 26-29325. The department has not released the man's name. His identity will be released once next-of-kin notification procedures have been completed, police said. KTUU, Alaska's News Source, reported that the body was found dead Monday morning near the intersection, which its headline placed near a hospital. The Anchorage Daily News also reported Monday that a male pedestrian was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in East Anchorage early Monday, and that the man was found near the intersection of Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road.

The police release did not describe the vehicle that struck the man, and it did not name a suspect. It also did not say what the man was doing at the intersection before he was struck. Police described the finding that a fleeing vehicle struck him as preliminary, which means the account in the release is the department's first finding, not its final one.

The appeal for footage

Anyone with surveillance footage of the area, or other information about the investigation who has not yet spoken to police, is asked to call APD Dispatch at 3-1-1 (option #1) or 907-786-8900 (option #0), the department said. The release asks people who call to give information for this investigation. Callers can use the case number, 26-29325, to identify the case they are calling about.

Footage from homes, businesses and vehicles near the intersection could help investigators work out which vehicle was at Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road around the time of the call and which way it went after the man was struck. Police have not said in the release whether any footage has already been turned in.

What happens next

The next confirmed fact in this case is likely to be the man's identity, which police say they will release after his family has been notified. Until then, the public record is short: a call at about 5:48 a.m. on November 9, a man dead at the scene, a preliminary finding that a vehicle struck him and fled, and an open request for footage and information from anyone in the area. The Orbit Post will update this story in place if police release the man's name, describe the vehicle, or announce an arrest.