Phoenix Police detectives are investigating a north valley collision involving a marked Phoenix Police vehicle, that left 19-year-old Ashley Vailes dead.
According to the Phoenix Police Department, on December 21, 2023, around 9:00 a.m., an officer, while transporting a prisoner in a marked Phoenix Police patrol vehicle, was involved in a collision at the intersection of 35th Avenue and Thunderbird Road. After the initial collision, the other vehicle involved in the collision collided with a nearby pole and eventually ignited on fire. The Phoenix Fire Department arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. The occupant inside was pronounced deceased on scene.
The officer and prisoner were both transported to local hospitals and are both expected to survive.
Additional information, to include witness statements and video surveillance footage, has led investigators to determine that the car driven by Vailes entered the intersection on a red light just prior to the collision.