Police arrest suspect in hit-and-run death of 100-year-old
A suspect has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of a 100-year-old man killed Sunday, police announced Friday.
Police did not release the suspect's name immediately, but a check of jail records showed that Akesha Norman, 48, of Oakland was being held at Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of hit-and-run causing death or serious bodily injury.
Norman was arrested Thursday afternoon and was being held without bail, according to the jail records. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
At a news conference Friday at police headquarters, Deputy Chief James Beere thanked the community for calling in information and the media for getting video of the suspect's vehicle out to the public. He said the department “did a tremendous job of getting this person in custody,” adding that investigators basically “worked day and night” on the case.
Capt. Anthony Tedesco, who besides being an East Oakland area commander is also commander of the traffic unit, said investigators were able to collect key video and contact witnesses that led to the suspect's arrest and recovery of the vehicle police believe hit and killed Tzu-Ta Ko.
Tedesco singled out Sgts. Tim Dolan and Michael Cardoza and Officers Brenton Lowe and Peter Huppert for playing key roles in the investigation. He said all traffic fatalities “are tragic, and we take them very seriously.”
The collision happened about 7 a.m. on Sunday at 19th and Harrison streets. Police believe Ko, a 100-year-old Oakland resident, may have been walking to Lake Merritt from his home about a mile away in Oakland's Chinatown.
Ko suffered severe head trauma and died at the scene. The driver did not remain at the scene after hitting Ko.
Immediately after the crash, police said they had identified a tan or white Mini Cooper as the vehicle involved. They later released surveillance images of the vehicle.
No relatives of Ko were present at the news conference. A grandson of Ko on Friday afternoon released a statement through Oakland police and thanked the department for “their support throughout this painful ordeal.”
“Our family is going through a lot. We are sad and we are angry,” the grandson wrote. “My grandfather walked miles every day. When the driver hit my grandfather and drove away leaving him on the pavement, they not only robbed my grandfather of his life, they also robbed him of his dignity. They robbed him of his freedom to walk safely within the city where he lived for over 30 years. They robbed my family of our future plans with our beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather. And they robbed the community of our faith in human decency.”