Pedestrian Killed in Anchorage Hit-and-Run. Jack Sabato Is Charged
Updated On: November 11, 2026
Police say a driver hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, in East Anchorage, the city’s ninth pedestrian death this year.
Carl Simmonds, 42, was killed early Monday morning on a sidewalk near Alaska Regional Hospital in East Anchorage. Police say the driver who hit him kept going. By that night, officers had arrested a suspect.
According to court documents reported by the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media, a white Chevrolet Tahoe struck Simmonds near Airport Heights Drive and DeBarr Road at about 5:35 AM Monday, November 9. Surveillance video reportedly shows the SUV hitting him and driving off without braking. Police and Anchorage Fire Department medics responded around 5:48 AM and pronounced him dead at the scene. Officers found him on the sidewalk near the Blood Bank of Alaska, with car parts scattered nearby.
The Arrest & the Charges
Police say they identified the SUV from video and found it at the driver’s workplace, an Amazon delivery station in South Anchorage. Jack Sabato, 32, was arrested Monday night and booked 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. A judge set bail at $5,000 cash performance and $5,000 unsecured appearance, and he remained in jail Tuesday afternoon. He is presumed innocent.
He is the son of actors Virginia Madsen and Antonio Sabato Jr., a connection that has drawn national attention but has no bearing on the case.
According to the charging documents, Sabato told police he had been doing late-night DoorDash deliveries and was heading home when “something” appeared in the road and damaged his headlight. He first said he’d hit an animal. The police summary says he later said he didn’t know he’d hit a person and “hoped for the best.” Those are allegations in court documents, not findings.
A Growing Toll
Simmonds is the ninth pedestrian killed by a vehicle in Anchorage this year, according to local sources. Legislators heard this year that the city had 55 hit-and-run deaths over ten years, and Rep. Chuck Kopp’s HB 239 would raise penalties for fatal hit-and-run when a driver fails to stop and render aid. Nationally, about a quarter of pedestrian deaths involve hit-and-run drivers, according to NHTSA data cited in testimony. We couldn’t confirm the bill’s current status.
What This Could Mean Legally
Criminal charges are separate from a civil case. Simmonds’s family may bring a wrongful death claim, generally within two years in Alaska. Alaska’s minimum liability coverage is $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury, which can fall short in a fatal crash. His own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may help, depending on his policy.
If the driver was doing gig work, insurance can be complicated. Coverage from delivery platforms often depends on whether a delivery was in progress, and reports don’t say whether one was here. Alaska also uses pure comparative fault, so a victim’s share of blame reduces recovery but doesn’t bar it. A driver who flees can still be found through video evidence, as happened here.
Our condolences go out to Carl Simmonds’s family and friends. If you’ve lost someone to a hit-and-run, the independent attorneys we connect you with can help you understand your options.
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