Sergeant Al Powell is a fictional character from the 1988 action film Die Hard and the novel on which it was based, portrayed by Reginald VelJohnson.

Powell is an off-duty police officer who gets called into work to investigate a potential hostage situation at Nakatomi Plaza.

[1][2] VelJohnson would reprise his role in the sequel film Die Hard 2 (1990) and the second season of the action comedy/spy-drama television series Chuck (2008).

Due to the unprofessionalism of the airport's police chief, Carmine Lorenzo, McClane is forced to grab an improvised set of fingerprints from the deceased suspect and fax them to Powell in Los Angeles for identification.

Powell identifies the suspect as Sergeant Oswald Cochran, who was believed killed in action in a helicopter accident in Honduras two years prior.

The character of Powell in Die Hard was the breakout performance for actor Reginald VelJohnson, who had previously only had small roles in films such as Ghostbusters and Crocodile Dundee.

[3][4] Despite only appearing in two scenes during Die Hard 2, VelJohnson still received fourth billing, behind other returning actors Bonnie Bedelia and William Atherton from the first film.

However, the project has currently been cancelled outright due to Disney's acquisition of Fox, and is now planned to be rebooted as a potential streaming service show.

[12][13] Due to the popularity of his role in Die Hard, VelJohnson was cast as Carl Winslow on the television sitcom Family Matters.

[14] VelJohnson would also appear as himself in the television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which often references and pays tribute to Die Hard, as it is main character Jake Peralta's favourite film.