The San Francisco prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday (July 2) that a 79-year-old Chinese woman is facing four felony charges of vehicular manslaughter after a tragic incident in March where she drove onto a pedestrian walkway in the West Portal community and fatally struck a family of four.
According to the report from local online media outlet “The San Francisco Standard,” prosecutor Brooke Jenkins has accused Mary Fong Lau, 79 years old, of speeding through the West Portal community on March 16 and accidentally driving onto the sidewalk, where she collided with a family of four waiting at a bus stop.
The victims included Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, and their two young sons, aged one year and three months, who were waiting for a bus to go to the San Francisco Zoo at the time of the incident.
Jenkins stated during the press conference announcing the charges, “From our perspective, these are all felony charges of vehicular manslaughter, the result of severe negligence that led to this tragic accident.”
On March 18, the police arrested Lau on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving causing bodily injury, and other traffic violations. However, she was released shortly after and had not been detained until this Tuesday as the prosecutor had not formally charged her with the crimes.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott announced during the press conference that an arrest warrant had been issued for Lau, and the police are working with her attorney to take her into custody. Online inmate records show she was booked into jail at 6:55 p.m. on Tuesday.
Lau’s attorney Sam Geller provided a statement to “The San Francisco Standard” expressing Lau’s condolences to the victims’ families, friends, and the community.
Jenkins emphasized that all the charges brought against Lau are felonies and highlighted that Lau is suspected of driving at high speed.
The prosecutor mentioned that toxicology reports on Lau showed that drugs and alcohol were not factors in the accident. Investigators also found no mechanical malfunctions in Lau’s vehicle and determined that she was at fault.
Jenkins explained that there was a lengthy process from Lau’s initial arrest to her indictment, involving medical examinations, review of toxicology reports, and inspection of her car and maintenance records due to the thorough investigation.
The regional prosecutor added that if charges were brought without a thorough investigation, he might have to retract them later, causing further harm to Lau’s family by not seeing the expected outcome during this process.