Colleagues, friends mourn cop, 32, killed in Henry Ave. crash

EXCESSIVE SPEED contributed to a crash that claimed the life of an off-duty police officer in Roxborough, police said yesterday.

Sgt. Rafael Ali, 32, of East Oak Lane, was a 10-year veteran of the department whose close friends described him yesterday as a hard worker and a doting father of two.

He lost control of his 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck about 11:43 p.m. Saturday on Henry Avenue near Valley, according to Capt. John Wilczynski, head of the Accident Investigation Division.

Ali was traveling "well above" the posted 35 mph speed limit when he drove into a wide curve, Wilczynski said. His Ram jumped the concrete median and continued about 150 feet before striking a tree.

Fire Department personnel arrived minutes later and cut Ali out of the wreckage. Medics then took him to Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m., police said. No one else was injured.

No skid marks were found at the scene, indicating that Ali, who was wearing a seat belt, didn't apply the brakes, Wilczynski said.

It was unclear last night what caused the crash, but investigators don't believe alcohol played a role, Wilczynski said.

"We're at a loss to understand really what happened in that couple of seconds; we don't know," he added. Investigators theorize that Ali may have fallen asleep at the wheel or suffered a medical emergency.

The last time Ali saw his colleagues was 6 p.m. Saturday, when he clocked out after his shift at Nicetown's 39th District. Police don't know where he was heading when the crash took place.

Yesterday, those officers bore the impact of their loss.

One police officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Daily News that he had worked with Ali at a few crime scenes. He said Ali "had a great personality" and was "meticulous" in completing his work.

"It's just a terrible loss of life," the officer said.

On Ali's block in East Oak Lane, about 6 miles from the scene of his fatal crash, memories of him flowed freely yesterday.

"I feel very privileged to have been a part of his life," said John Houston, the block captain of 65th Avenue near 8th Street, who said Ali was like a son to him.

Houston said that Ali, a graduate of Central High School who grew up in Germantown, had moved to the block about a decade ago and shared his home with an 8-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

He called Ali a "super dad" who often was seen throwing a football with his kids in their front yard, or loading up the truck for day trips with them to the Jersey Shore or the Poconos.

That kindness extended beyond his family.

Houston, 56, recalled one "cold, rainy night" about three years ago, when one of the tires on his car blew out 2 miles from home.

He called Ali, asking him to grab the spare tire from his back yard and bring it to him.

"There was no hemming, no hawing," Houston said. "He just walked straight up and did it; that's the type of guy he was."

Yesterday morning, Houston awoke to news reports that an officer from the 39th District had died in a crash.

As the TV reporter started to list more details - the officer was young, a sergeant with two kids - Houston's "antenna went up," he said.

His heart sank when he saw footage of the mangled Dodge Ram.

"I got out of bed and said, 'All I need to do is go to the door and look, and if I see his truck, I'm good,' " Houston said.

He threw on a robe and walked onto his stoop, leaned his head out toward Ali's house.

The truck was gone.

"I'm angry, sad, going through all these damn emotions," Houston said. "I still can't believe it."