Vigil honors Hayward man killed in crash
OAKLAND >> Manusiu Mafi's face swung swiftly back and forth between joy and grief as she used her cellphone to show a video of her bright-eyed, broadshouldered second cousin Lolomanaia Soakai singing a church hymn.
“He was such a quiet, big guy, but Lolo had a voice like an angel,” Mafi said, smiling wistfully as she recalled him attending services with his mother and father at Laurel United Methodist Church on 35th Avenue before sticking around for kava ceremonies after sermons.
Mafi's joy won out momentarily as she looked around at more than 100 people who came to a vigil Thursday in the 5400 block of International Boulevard to honor Soakai and to raise awareness of traffic violence that has claimed multiple lives and drained safety and ease from traffic corridors.
“I know that the family supports 100% and I'm glad to see that the community is here 100%. We just want justice for Lolo. The type of person that he is, he'd be like, `Don't worry, sis, it's (OK),' ” she said.
In between sharing refreshments and water with others, Mafi joined at least a dozen others who sang a cappella gospel songs as cars rolled past.
Soakai, 28, was one of four men standing along International Boulevard just after 1:50 a.m. Sunday when a Nissan 350Z speeding eastbound along International in a lane designated for buses only struck a car turning onto International from 54th Avenue.
The Nissan then struck parked vehicles, including sport utility vehicles and motorcycles. One of the SUVs struck the group, killing Soakai at the scene. The other three men were hospitalized and later listed in stable condition.
Police are investigating reports that the crash may have come shortly after an unauthorized pursuit of the Nissan by Oakland police. Two officers have been suspended from duty.
A GoFundMe fundraising campaign set up Sunday evening to raise money for Soakai's mother and brother had raised $1,720 toward a $2,000 goal as of 10 p.m. Thursday. The campaign was online at gofundme.com/f/love-forlolo-in-honor-of-lolomanaia-soakai.
As some vigil attendees waved Tongan flags and others held up posters that
read “Honk 4 Justice” and “A driver killed our neighbor here, June 26,” members of the Traffic Violence Rapid Response Team joined family and community lining the south side of the 5400 block of International Boulevard, where candles, balloons and photos of Soakali rested, and helped hand out flyers to drivers and pedestrians about the collision.
One member, North Oakland resident George Spies, said he came to raise awareness
of street safety: “After each of these deaths, we want people to know that they happened. We want people to know that there's solutions available, and we want those solutions put into place.”
Another member, West Oakland resident Bryan Culbertson, said he'd noticed that “most of the drivers here are very supportive of the community that was out here today. They honked when we asked them for support, they pumped their
fists, they took flyers and they will probably be contacting their representatives. This is something that affects us all. We all want to be able to navigate our city safely in whatever way we can.”
As Pedro Ramirez, a 30year Oakland resident and occasional cyclist who said he works at a nearby vehicle rental business, watched the vigil, he couldn't help but share his own unpleasant experiences with neighborhood traffic.
“We see people drive like crazy, sometimes more than 60 miles an hour. They don't respect the light. They don't respect the traffic. They drive in the bus lanes,” Ramirez said.
“I don't know who decided to make this bus lane, if it's better for them or not, but it's no good for the people.”
Oakland City Councilman Loren Taylor, who represents the city's District 6, pointed out a bus lane issue from in front of a neighborhood corner store.
“We have excessive speeds and reckless driving along this corridor, where you see there's no physical demarcation between that and the main lane, which means those who are impatient, or otherwise just don't care, can basically treat that as their own speedway,” Taylor said in part.
“We also have to look at other ways of holding folks accountable for reckless driving without pursuing with a high-speed chase use technology like drones, enforcement and other solutions that still allow us to hold the line relative to reckless driving but also not further endanger residents.”