'Hot Cop of the Castro' speaks exclusively to ABC7 I-Team about starting new life after jail
Dan Noyes says this is one of the most frustrating interviews he's done.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- "You can be out there, you know, just doing your job one day," Chris Kohrs told us. "And someone takes a picture that they like, and then all of a sudden, you know, you're all over everything."
Remember "Hot Cop of the Castro?" San Francisco police officer Chris Kohrs went from local social media heartthrob to worldwide internet sensation. Then, a very dramatic and very public fall, convicted of felony hit and run for badly injuring two pedestrians.
RELATED: Jury finds SF 'Hot Cop' guilty of felony hit-and-run
For the first time since serving his jail sentence, Kohrs is telling his story after asking the I-Team's Dan Noyes to interview him. Chris Kohrs is still guarded about some aspects of that night, but he is eager to talk about his ongoing fight with the San Francisco Police Commission.
"My name is Chris and best way to describe me is just your average, everyday normal guy."
Chris Kohrs is a 43-year-old construction worker, but in the summer of 2014, he was a San Francisco police officer working the Castro District when residents started snapping his picture and posting it on social media with the nickname, "Hot Cop of the Castro".
"It was fun, I mean, I was having fun with it. I was just trying to, I guess, spin it in a positive way If I could."
Those local blogs led to international coverage.
VIDEO: Surveillance video offers clue following arrest of 'Hot Cop' in SF hit-and-run crash
One news anchor said, "So, you know that hot inmate everybody was talking about; now there's hot cop."
CNN, the BBC, the Daily Beast. Kohrs rolled with it, using his sudden fame to get modeling jobs and help raise money for charity, including an ice bucket challenge.
Then, November 2015, Kohrs drove his orange Dodge Charger up Broadway with his brother and a friend after a night out. He had the green light, but two pedestrians stepped into the road. They suffered serious injuries from the impact.
"I feel terrible that two people were seriously injured that night," Kohrs told us. "And it will forever haunt me."
Kohrs ran from the scene, leaving his brother and friend who happened to be a doctor to attend to the victims. He turned himself in hours later; investigators could not reliably test Kohrs for alcohol or drugs.
RELATED: San Francisco 'Hot Cop' charged with 2 felonies in hit-and-run
A jury convicted him, two felony counts of hit and run - he served four-and-a-half-months in jail, most in Marin County because of the case's notoriety.
Chris Kohrs: "It was one hell of an experience."
Dan Noyes: "Was it tough? I mean, you were in solitary the entire time."
Chris Kohrs: "Being separated from family and friends that long, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."
Kohr's appealed his conviction on a technicality, but failed. The case is over, but he refused to talk about the central issue, even though he requested this interview and told me before that nothing was off the table.
Dan Noyes: "Your appeal's done, you've already served your time, right? Why can't you answer that basic question about why did you run away from the scene?"
Chris Kohrs: "Because my lawyer specifically told me not to talk about it just yet."
But, his lawyer offered an explanation why Kohrs ran, in recordings of his closed-door disciplinary hearing before the Police Commission. Jim Lassart said a crowd gathered at the scene right after the accident and recognized Kohrs as "Hot Cop of the Castro."
Lassart said, "There was 'hot cop, get him' comments, and he left, he did leave the scene, and he did it by fear, in fear."
RELATED: SFPD officer gains online attention as the 'Hot Cop of Castro'
Kohrs is now battling the Police Commission for a recording of the deliberations in which they decided to fire him. He also claims this recording of the first part of the hearing has been altered.
Kohr's lawyer: "He's not on any paid status. He is-(glitch)"
Commissioner: "Your client call 911?"
That sound is a glitch, Kohrs says, the place where the commission deleted a section of the recording, and altered the transcript accordingly: "They're the official record. And when you start altering the official record, you start fabricating your own truth."
Kohrs is pursuing the issue with the city's public records office. At this point, the Police Commission refuses to provide a recording of the panel's deliberations. The recording of the first part of the hearing provided to Kohrs ends this way.
Female commissioner: "Even if he-"
Male commissioner: "Excuse me, we need to have the deliberation on the record here."
Female commissioner: "Okay, so even if he wins the appeal-"
2nd Female Commissioner: "Wait, aren't we on the record? Oh, we're not?"
3rd Female Commissioner: "The court reporter, she stepped out."
2nd Female Commissioner: "Wait, aren't we on the record? Oh, we're not?"
3rd Female Commissioner: "The court reporter, she stepped out."
2nd Female Commissioner: "Wait, aren't we on the record? Oh, we're not?"
3rd Female Commissioner: "The court reporter, she stepped--."
We pressed Kohrs about his endgame; he says he's not considering any kind of lawsuit.
Chris Kohrs: "I really just want to influence change, and transparency and government ethics."
Dan Noyes: "Are you hoping to work as a police officer again?"
Chris Kohrs: "How do I say this, no. (laughs) I'll say this. Yeah. They could, they could offer me season tickets to the 49ers, red zone seats, I would still turn them down and I love going to 49er games. So that's a big deal."
Dan Noyes says this is one of the most frustrating interviews he's done. Kohrs asked him to meet and then spent much of the day evading questions. Kohrs did tell us he sold that orange Dodge Charger, as soon as it was released from impound.
