Update: Oakland man arrested after fatal sideshow-related crash; 2 OPD officers under investigation
OAKLAND -- Police in Oakland are investigating what appeared to be a fatal sideshow-related collision early Sunday morning that also involved two officers being placed on administrative leave in connection with the case.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on Monday afternoon announced that two officers who were involved in the case have been placed on administrative leave as their actions come under scrutiny.
"We want to thoroughly investigate our involvement, I think it's important that we make sure that whatever involvement we had with this incident that we fully investigate that to make sure our officers were following policy, following laws," Armstrong said at a Monday news conference.
Armstrong did not elaborate on what happened during the sideshow investigation that led to the officers being placed on leave.
According to the Oakland Police Department, the fatal traffic collision happened Sunday morning just before 2 a.m. on the 5400 block of International Boulevard. The two officers were involved in a chase before the crash, where the chief says the driver reached speeds near 100 miles per hour. The chief did not share any more details about why the officers were under investigation.
"Sideshows has been an issue for many cities, Oakland you know has been affected by sideshows for many weekends," the chief said.
Officers responded to a report of an injury collision involving several pedestrians struck in the area. Arriving officers found one unresponsive male adult -- later identified as 28-year-old Lolomanaia Soakai -- and three additional male adults, all suffering from injuries related to the crash. Oakland Fire units and an ambulance arrived at the scene and rendered emergency aid, but the unresponsive male victim succumbed to his injuries.
The three additional injured pedestrians were transported to an area hospital and listed in stable condition. Officers found the driver of the vehicle involved still behind the wheel of the car. The driver, a 19-year-old male Oakland resident, was detained and is being held on charges for vehicular manslaughter.
"We did not take any sideshow intervention operation on regarding this particular incident," Armstrong said.
Police said a preliminary investigation indicated the vehicle in the collision -- a Nissan 350Z -- was traveling eastbound on International Boulevard at a high rate of speed in the designated bus lane when it struck a second vehicle in the roadway, causing the Nissan 350Z to spin.
The Nissan 350Z struck multiple parked cars and motorcycles along the 5400 block of International Boulevard, which then struck the pedestrians on the sidewalk.
"The speed in which people traveling in cars, whether related to sideshows or just driving in our community, is just far too fast and it's putting the public at risk," said Armstrong. The name of the deceased and the injured parties are being withheld pending notification to family members.
Police said the collision appeared to be sideshow related. It has yet to be determined if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision. This incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department Traffic Investigation Unit at (510) 777-8570.
