Indiana cop gets $35 ticket for running over and killing a man crossing the street in his 5th on-duty crash

Kenneth Niemeyer Sep 2, 2023, 2:53 PM CDT

A police officer in Indiana was fined $35 after hitting and killing a man with his car.

Fort Wayne officer Joshua Hartup hit local attorney Henry Najdeski in April.

Prosecutors said Indiana law does not allow Hartup to be charged in Najdeski's death.

An Indiana police officer got a $35 ticket for hitting and killing a local attorney with his police car.

Fort Wayne Police Seargent Joshua Hartup hit Henry Najdeski with his car at the intersection of Calhoun Street and Main Street in Fort Wayne on April 19 as he crossed the street, according to the Journal Gazette.

Najdeski died three days later from his injuries after what was the fifth on-duty crash of Hartup's career, according to the outlet.

Najdeski's niece, Hannah Reid, said in a TikTok video that she has paid "steeper parking tickets" in the area than the penalty that Hartup will have to pay for her uncle's death.

"This man didn't even lose his license," Reid says in the video. "He gets to just go back out into the world and do this to some other family. He hasn't even apologized."

"How does my family seek justice from this?" Reid added. "How does anything get better? This system is so fucking broken, and I'm tired of it."

Allen County Prosecutor Mike McAlexander announced on August 8 that his office did not find Hartup criminally liable for Najdseski's death. The district attorney's office said toxicology reports showed no drugs in Hartup's system, and security footage showed that he was not speeding when he hit Najdseki as he crossed the street, according to the Fox affiliate in Fort Wayne.

McAlexander told the outlet criminal charges weren't warranted against Hartup because Indiana has no negligent homicide law, a law common in some other states with which someone can be charged for carelessness that leads to someone's death. So, he said, his office instead filed a civil infraction against Hartup for failure to yield to a pedestrian.

The vehicle Hartup was driving was unmarked and had no police equipment or in-car camera when he hit Nadjeski, according to the Journal Gazette.

It's unclear if Hartup has ever faced disciplinary action for the crash that killed Najdeski. The Fort Wayne Police Department did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.