Driver jailed after woman struck and killed at East 3rd Avenue and Orca Street in Anchorage

A woman died Thursday morning after a vehicle struck her at East 3rd Avenue and Orca Street in Anchorage, and the driver did not remain at the scene, the Anchorage Police Department said. The crash happened Sept. 17, 2026, at 8:13 a.m. Anchorage Fire Department medics declared the adult female pedestrian dead at the scene.

Officers contacted the driver, Anchorage resident Vaiee Samuelu, a short time later. She was booked into the Anchorage Jail on charges of failing to render aid and leaving the scene of a crash, the department said. Those charges are allegations.

Police are withholding the pedestrian's name until they notify next of kin. The investigation continues under APD Case 26-24539. The account comes from the department's written release, which includes no statement from Samuelu.

The Alaska Department of Health's epidemiology bulletin, published in April, counted 92 pedestrian deaths in Anchorage from 2016 through 2025. It recorded the highest annual death rate in 2025, with 15 deaths, a rate of 5.18 for every 100,000 residents. The bulletin mapped the deaths into clusters: 23 in Midtown, and 8 in an East Downtown area it bounds by East 3rd Avenue to the north and Ingra Street to the west. Thursday's crash happened on that northern edge.

September was the deadliest month studied, with 15 deaths, 16% of the total, though the bulletin found fatalities concentrated between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. "Driver behaviors included fleeing the scene (30%, 28/92) and speeding (4%, 4/92)," the bulletin said. It also noted that driver behavior data were unavailable whenever a driver fled, so the fleeing figure is a floor.

State pedestrian fatality targets are set as five-year rolling averages of deaths statewide, not annual city counts: the Alaska Highway Safety Plan aimed to cut the 2017 through 2021 average of 13 to 12 by 2024, against a stated goal of zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050.