San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Tuesday that her office has filed felony vehicular manslaughter charges against the driver for allegedly crashing and killing a family of four in the West Portal neighborhood in March.
The announcement came after months of investigation from the District Attorney’s Office and the Police Department determining that, Mary Fong Lau, 78, was not under the influence of any substance and that her vehicle had been properly working at the time of the crash, Police Chief Bill Scott said. The police chief added that Lau was not in custody as of late Tuesday afternoon and the department was working with Lau’s attorney to bring her in.
Jenkins said prosecutors charged Lau with four counts of felony vehicular manslaughter for each member of the family killed at the intersection of Ulloa Street and Lenox Way, adding:
“These are felony vehicular manslaughter charges which is the result of the gross negligence that occurred in causing this collision from our from our point of view.”
The family was waiting for a Muni bus when a one-year-old and father were killed at the crash site, while an infant and mother died of their injuries at the hospital. The family has since been identified as Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, 38 and Joaquin Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, 1. The infant, Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, was three-months old.
Police had previously arrested Lau but released her as the investigation continued into the crash. Lau’s attorney, Sam Geller, said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle:
“This tragedy is something that Ms. Lau continues to mourn while she learns to live with this unspeakable reality. She extends her condolences to the entire family, friends and community of the Oliveira-Pinto family. Now that the decision has been made by the District Attorney’s Office to press charges, we will review the evidence and take it one step at a time in presenting her defense.”
Jenkins said the gross negligence was related to the excessive speed Lau was driving, but did not specify how fast Lau was going at the time of the crash:
“This isn’t somebody going a few miles over the speed limit. This was excessive speeds and driving in a manner that was not safe.”
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the West Portal neighborhood and attended the press conference, said:
“I am relieved that the family will get some closure, at least on this aspect of this horrific crash.”
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has worked with the supervisor and West Portal merchants to propose traffic safety improvements to the area with a final proposal being sent to the transportation agency’s board for consideration on July 16.
