Oakland police search for suspect involved in hit-and-run that left 2 dead

ByAnser Hassan KGO logo
Sunday, April 14, 2019
OPD search for suspect involved in hit-and-run that left 2 dead
Witnesses say a mother, her 7-year-old son and his teenage uncle were hit by the car, but authorities have not yet said who it was that did not survive.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland police are searching for a male suspect involved in a hit-and-run that left two people dead.

Witnesses say a mother, her 7-year-old son and his teenage uncle were hit as they tried to cross Foothill Boulevard at the corner of 25th Avenue just after 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Police confirmed that two of the victims died, however, they did not identify which of four were killed.

"There are no words to explain this. It's sad. We just saw the people and their stuff on the ground," explains Humberto Mathias, who was one of the first on the scene. He knows the mother and the son. The son goes to school with one of the kids.

Mathias says the husband rushed to the scene, carrying an infant, after learning his family was hit.

The family was laying in the middle street for quite some time before police arrived, according to Mathias. "(The police) are not fast, because, you know, this area," he says.

Alma Chavez also knew the family. She's lived in the neighborhood for more than 23 years. Cars racing down the street has always been a problem she says, with speeds reaching over 60 miles an hour.

"When they passed that last light on 28th, they just run like crazy, because the next light is on 23rd," says Chavez. "And that is a long, long way to not have lights on this boulevard."

She says three years, she collected signatures to petition the city to put in traffic lights, but still no change.

"(I am told there is) no money in the city here. They never have money for safety here," says Chavez.

Police says they did track down one vehicle but it was not the driver involved in this hit-and-run. They say the suspect may have been wearing a black shirt and jeans.