Glendale pursuit video shows crash behind rare murder charge

Glendale police released footage from a deadly March pursuit that prosecutors say led to a rare first-degree murder charge against 20-year-old Ali Alebadi.

In the video posted Monday to the department’s Facebook page, Glendale police Sgt. Kris Steffa said such a charge is unusual in traffic cases.

“It’s very uncommon to charge a first-degree murder for a traffic collision,” Steffa said. “In fact, in the city of Glendale, this is the first one, and in Maricopa County, to our knowledge, this is the second one.”

Steffa said the charge stems from Arizona’s felony murder rule because Alebadi was allegedly fleeing police when the crash occurred.

During the pursuit, police radio traffic captured an officer warning, “Stay with him, because he’s going to cause a wreck.”

Moments later, the white Altima struck another sedan at the intersection, killing passenger Eva Ravelo and sending the other driver to a hospital

Authorities previously said Alebadi ran multiple red lights and was driving faster than 90 mph on March 22 before crashing near 51st and Glendale avenues.

Alebadi was indicted Aug. 12 on charges including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, aggravated assault and unlawful flight.

He is being held on a $3 million cash bond.

A trial is currently scheduled for April 2027.

KTAR News 92.3 FM senior editor Kevin Stone contributed to this story.

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