Fargo, N.D. – Flag Family News has learned an unmarked Fargo police vehicle was involved in a crash with a civilian driver in June, as both sides are disagreeing over who is at fault.
The crash in question took place on the afternoon of June 28th in south Fargo at the intersection of 25th Street South and the tail end of the Exit 350 off ramp from Interstate 94 East.
Based on police dispatch logs online, a call came in at 3:34pm for an ‘accident-property’ case at 18th Street South.
18th Street South links to 25th Street South on the east side of the crash intersection.
A deputy with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene to investigate, since Fargo police cannot take a crash case that involved one of their own members.
Because one of the drivers happened to be an undercover law enforcement member.
Flag Family News is deciding not to name the person to avoid compromising police operations.
Britny Koffler was the civilian behind the wheel of an SUV at the time of the crash.
According to a police report, a car was heading southbound on 25th Street.
Koffler was the first vehicle waiting at a traffic light to make a turn from the left hand lane onto 25th Street heading northbound after coming down the exit ramp.
The report says the driver of the southbound car told the sheriff’s deputy they had “a green light to proceed through the intersection.”
The law enforcement member says they attempted to “swerve left” as he started to see Koffler’s SUV “creep out” into the intersection but rammed into the side of the left front end of the SUV.
Koffler claimed she had a green turn arrow, and says the other driver “ran the red light” on 25th Street.
Authorities then began to gather possible traffic camera footage to determine who was responsible.
All cameras at the intersection are run by the North Dakota Department of Transportation are live feeds “and do not record” according to the report.
But investigators were able to access a recordable traffic camera further south at 25th Street South and 23rd Avenue South that pointed toward the crash intersection.
Although the camera recorded the crash, the police report says the video does “not show the traffic lights” at the intersection in question.
The video, which was also obtained by Flag Family News, shows Koffler’s black vehicle stopped at the traffic light.
Another vehicle to her right was waiting to head straight, and another car in the right hand lane that was about to turn south on 25th Street.
Flag Family News has decided to blur the image of the unmarked police car in the video so as not to compromise police operations.
At the moment Koffler’s vehicle begins to make the turn, the police report notes that the other vehicles “do not move suggesting their lights were red.”
Watch below: A zoomed clip of the traffic camera video at the time of the crash
There were also no cars on the eastbound side of the intersection.
The report states that investigators later “watched the light cycle several times.”
“It appears that if there are no cars on the east side of the intersection, all of the lights (left turn lane, straight lane, and right turn lane) on the west side of the intersection turn green at the same time,” the report goes on to say.
The report acknowledged that “conflicting statements” and the lack of visibility of the traffic lights in the footage resulted in “no citations.”
But despite a lack of definitive proof, the report concluded that it “does appear that vehicle two [Koffler’s SUV] drove through the red light.”
“I was like ‘That’s a cop, I know who he is.'”
Christopher Koffler says he was a few blocks away from the crash scene and headed over when he was contacted by his wife, who has worked as a nurse for fifteen years.
While the law enforcement member did not identify themselves on scene, Koffler says he immediately recognized the person when he arrived.
“I knew who he was,” said Koffler, whose spouse did not know at the time that the other driver was with law enforcement.
“When I pulled up and saw who she got into the car accident with and I was like ‘That’s a cop, I know who he is.'”
Koffler says it was a “quick thirty second interaction” which involved saying hello and informing the other driver that they had hit his wife’s vehicle.
Koffler says he later learned further confirmation through his insurance company that the law enforcement member was “an undercover cop in an unmarked police car.”
A day after the crash, Koffler says Sheriff Deputy Craig Keller, who was investigating the crash and filled out the police report, informed him later by phone of their conclusion that a green turn arrow would also have a green arrow for going straight at the same time.
Koffler says the deputy told him it “looks bad on your wife because she pulls out and the other cars to the right of her did not move.”
But Koffler says his wife “swore up and down she didn’t run a red light” and began to do some of his own digging.
He obtained a copy of the police report and was granted access to download the traffic camera footage.
Days later, Koffler drove through the intersection the same way his wife did on June 28th and snapped a photo.
In the image, Koffler captured the green turn signal illuminated while the other lanes had a red light, but also showed what appeared to be a car blowing through a red light heading southbound down 25th Street South.
“To me, that deputy’s report is discredited with that photo,” said Koffler.
Koffler says he then called “numerous times” before and after July 4th attempting to reach the investigating deputy to inform him about his new photo.
Koffler says he left at least two voicemail messages and has yet to hear back.
A matter of traffic light patterns
Flag Family News headed to the intersection to independently watch the traffic signal and the patterns in question.
During the course of watching and driving, the traffic lights facing cars approaching from the I-94 exit ramp were observed.
The cycle generally moved from all red, to a green left turn light signal with remaining red lights for vehicles in middle and right lanes, to fully green for all lanes before changing from yellow back to all red.
Flag Family News did witness one occasion in which the lights indeed turned green all at once for all vehicles.
But unlike what was detailed in the police report, there was a slight variation.
While the report concluded all lights turn green for vehicles coming off the ramp when no cars are on the eastbound side of the intersection, Flag Family News did witness vehicles in those eastbound-side lanes at the time of an all-green change.
Before the lights completely turned green, at least one vehicle was at the intersection making a right turn on to 25th Street South, while a second was pulling up preparing to head straight.
Based on information from the police report and our independent observation, Flag Family News could not determine if the all-green traffic signal function solely occurs when there are no cars present on the eastbound side of the intersection.
Flag Family News also witnessed at least one car appearing to run through a red light heading south on 25th Street South, well after the green turn signal was activated and speeding right in front of drivers attempting to make a left onto 25th Street heading northbound.
A matter of damages
Koffler says their vehicle, which is a newer SUV, suffered an estimated $6,700 worth of damage to the front bumper during the crash.
On the day of the crash, Koffler says he asked for an insurance card and was told it was a city vehicle “that did not have city or government plates”
“They were straight up North Dakota plates,” says Koffler, who says the deputy eventually produced a document listing the city’s insurance information.
Koffler says he was allowed to take a photo of the insurance information.
Following the crash, Koffler says he later spoke by phone with the deputy who apologized for forgetting “to give them a window sticker on scene to say that the crash was reported.” because he was training a new deputy at the time.
The window sticker provides information for a body shop to make repairs.
The couple says they’re now facing a struggle to try and cover the cost.
Koffler says he filed a claim with his insurance carrier placing blame on the city of Fargo, while the city followed up with their own claim that it was Koffler’s spouse who was at fault.
Koffler says his insurer isn’t able yet to fully processing the claim.
“[The insurance company] stated that they’re having a hard time getting a statement from the cop because Fargo police are saying the person is undercover,” said Koffler.
Koffler also claims his insurance agent informed him that if the case goes any further in terms of determining fault, the other driver “is a cop and it’s his word [against yours].”
Without the statement from the officer, Koffler says the crash would simply become a ‘no fault accident case’ in which he would have to cover his own repair costs through his insurance.
Koffler says he supports police and isn’t looking to get anyone fired, but is questioning how the situation is playing out.
“To me, everything is lining up to benefit the city in this crash,” said Koffler. “I would like the city to admit fault and cover it.”
“I’m looking for them [the city] to take responsibility to pay for the accident, but also issue an apology for everything we’ve gone through.”
Koffler did reveal that his wife was involved in an earlier similar crash in April when her car was totaled.
Koffler claims the other driver was proven to be at fault for running a red light.
Responses from law enforcement and city officials
Flag Family News reached out to the Fargo Police Department for comment about the crash.
“Since this is still an open civil case, Chief [David] Zibolski will decline from commenting at this time,” a city spokesperson responded in a written statement.
Flag Family News also contacted the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
Asked why the report seemed to place responsibility for the crash on Koffler without hard complete evidence, Cass County Sheriff’s Office Detective Joe Gress says Deputy Keller “did not place blame on Ms. Koffler.”
“Deputy Keller stated it did appear that Ms. Koffler drove through a red light,” Gress wrote in a statement to Flag Family News. “But Deputy Keller did not issue any citations that would award fault to one party.”
Gress confirmed Keller “did receive one voicemail [from the Kofflers] that went unanswered” that “disputed Deputy Keller’s analysis of the traffic light cycle.”
“Ultimately, the Koffler’s will have to submit their photographs and traffic light analysis to their insurance company, which will then have the opportunity to dispute whatever they deem necessary with the Fargo Police Department’s insurance carrier.”
