Oakland police make arrest in fatal hit-and-run of 100-year-old

“If you’re ... in a ... collision, checking on the safety of the other person involved is paramount.” Capt. Anthony Tedesco

Oakland police have arrested a motorist accused of hitting and killing 100year-old pedestrian TzuTa Ko at the downtown intersection of 19th and Harrison streets early Sunday morning.

The deadly hit-and-run collision occurred just after 7 a.m., police said, when an Oakland woman driving a white or beige Mini Cooper struck Ko and sped away, leaving the centenarian with severe head trauma.

Ko later died from his injuries.

Investigators with the Police Department’s traffic division canvassed the area for witnesses and reviewed surveillance footage of the busy crossing near Lake Merritt, which led them to release photos of the Mini Cooper on Thursday.

Addressing reporters Friday morning, Oakland Police Capt.Anthony Tedesco, commander of the traffic division, said he could release few details about the arrest, and did not provide the suspect’s name or age, though a review of Alameda County jail records showed that Akesha Roshan Norman, 48, was arrested and booked into Santa Rita Jail Thursday night for a felony high-and-run death.

Tedesco said the department planned to present the case to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price on Friday. Thus far police have not disclosed whether they believe the alleged driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol.

This catastrophic wreck was among dozens that occur each year on Oakland streets.

Last year the Police Department’s fatal-accident standby team responded to 40 such incidents of road mayhem, 36 of which were fatal, Tedesco said.

“If you’re involved in a traffic collision, checking on the safety of the other person involved is paramount,” Tedesco said. “It just shows your humanity.”