An attorney with a San Francisco law firm has been arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and manslaughter in connection with the death of a bicyclist in Dublin who was struck by the lawyer’s brand-new Mercedes-Benz, authorities said Friday. Spencer Freeman Smith, 32, of San Ramon was arrested Thursday after police found a damaged black, 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 in his garage on Baker Way, 3 miles north of the crash site, said Dublin police Lt. Herb Walters. Smith, who was admitted to the State Bar in 2005, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. His law firm, Smith Patten in San Francisco’s Financial District, had no comment Friday. Smith’s car had “extensive windshield and front-end damage” and was missing the parts left behind at the scene of the crash that killed Bo Hu, 57, [...] Read more »
The man who died Thursday after being struck by a gasoline tanker truck in San Francisco had just become a U.S. citizen and was looking forward to voting in his first election, co-workers said. Sena Putra, 47, of Oakland was crossing 13th Street at 12:55 p.m. when a tanker heading north on Folsom Street turned right onto 13th and hit him, police said. Putra died at the scene. Putra was walking back from lunch to his job as an accountant for UCSF’s Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital when he was struck, said his supervisor, Diane Schlueter. Police told her that Putra had been in the crosswalk on a green light. “He was crossing on the right side,” Schlueter said. “I just don’t know why the driver didn’t see him.” The driver stopped and cooperated with investigators, [...] Read more »
A bicyclist struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Dublin was identified Thursday as 57-year-old Bo Hu. Hu, whose listed residence is in China, was riding his bike or walking with it north on Dougherty Road near Willow Creek Drive when he was hit by a Mercedes-Benz about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Hu died at the scene. The driver continued north on Dougherty without stopping. Investigators retrieved car parts from the roadway and determined that the vehicle was a dark-color, 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 or CLS63, said police Lt. Herb Walters. The scattering of car parts indicates the Mercedes has front-end damage, Walters said. Anyone with information is asked to call police Sgt. Yesenia Sanchez at (925) 833-6682. Alexander Law Group, LLP is a nationally-recognized and award-winning personal injury law firm with offices in [...] Read more »
Seven people sustained injuried late Wednesday night when an airport shuttle was struck from behind on southbound Highway 101 near San Antonio Road in Palo Alto. The shuttle driver told investigators he was slowing for road construction when he was struck from behind by a car traveling at freeway speed, according to Battalion Chief Chris Woodard of the Palo Alto Fire Department. The collision pushed the shuttle into another car. Firefighters received word of the collision at 11:55 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find medical personnel from Santa Clara County Emergency Medical Services starting to triage several patients. Seven of the nine people evaluated were transported to Stanford Hospital with various major and minor injuries, according to Woodard. The emergency response included three engines and four ambulances from Palo Alto and Santa Clara [...] Read more »
One woman is dead and a man and a small child were hospitalized after their vehicle crashed into a tree in Berkeley early Friday morning. The Cadillac was headed north at on California Street at 1:13 a.m. reportedly at a high rate of speed, when it hit a tree at Allston Way two blocks south of University Avenue, possibly after colliding with a roundabout at the intersection, authorities said. The male driver, a female passenger and a child in the back had to be extricated by police and firefighters. The woman, who was in her 20s, died at the scene. The man, also in his 20s, was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, and the child was taken to Children’s Hospital Oakland. Both suffered serious injuries, police said. The names of the victims were not immediately released. [...] Read more »
They say it sounds like thunder or the creeeak of floorboards in a Hollywood horror movie. It is the warning sound from a tree before disaster strikes: a limb as heavy as a refrigerator — or the whole soaring tree itself — was breaking loose. “We were walking and we heard a — we heard a cracking sound,” Shifra Berger, a 12th-grade teacher, testified at a Brooklyn trial in 2007 that found the city accountable for her mother’s death. “I said: ‘Oh my gosh Mom, the tree. We have to run.’ And we tried. We tried to run.” Ms. Berger’s was among hundreds of lawsuits across the country in recent years that have raised questions about whether more diligent tree care by cities might have prevented the death or injury wrought by falling limbs. Evidence gathered in those suits [...] Read more »
Now that spring is here, the Alexander Law Group is reminding consumers to check to see if their bicycles, bicycle components or accessories have been recalled before using them. Recalled bicycles, components and accessories can be dangerous and cause an accident, resulting in injury or even death. If you have a recalled product, contact the firm for the remedy. Once that’s taken care of, remember to properly strap on your bike helmet! Check out these recent bicycle-related recalls. You can find out more about these recalls and others at our website or at www.cpsc.gov. Product Recall Press Release Hazard Photos Bridgeway Bicycles (91,000 units) 11-331 The bicycle chain can break, causing a rider to lose control and fall. Trek 2012 FX and District bicycles [...] Read more »
A 25-year-old San Francisco woman was killed while crossing the with an armful of groceries and was hit by a pickup truck. Suzanne Monacowas walking west across Masonic Avenue near Euclid Avenue in the Laurel Heights neighborhood around 5:20 p.m. when a driver heading south on Masonic struck her, relatives and authorities said. Monaco, who had just left a grocery store, was not in the crosswalk when she was hit, police said. She died 30 minutes later at San Francisco General Hospital. The man driving the Toyota pickup remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, said police spokesman Sgt. Daryl Fong. His name was not released, and he has not been arrested. Monaco, originally from Chico, was working toward becoming a certified architect, said her father, Jim Monaco. She worked at 450 Architects, a [...] Read more »
In May 28, 2011 a 14 year-old boy in Riverhead, N.Y. suffered severe third-degree burns from a fire pot that exploded as he poured fuel into it. Today he still struggles to recover. In June, Brent Miller, a 51-year-old property manager from Kissimmee, Florida, died after a 33-day hospitalization. Miller was pouring fuel into a fire pot, when it exploded, setting Miller, his wife, plants and other objects on the lanai aflame. Scenarios such as these have prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to regulate so-called fire pots, and the alcohol-based gel that fuels them. Fire pots are portable, decorative “lighting accents,” used both indoors and out. According to the CPSC, firepots were introduced into the marketplace in 2010, with 2.5 million units sold since then. They are often ceramic; some are partially [...] Read more »
Two people were airlifted to area hospitals after a head-on collision in Contra Costa County this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision was reported at 5:24 a.m. Thursday on Sellers Avenue south of Sunset Road, according to the CHP. The Contra Costa Fire District reports two people were taken by helicopter to the hospital. Another occupant of one of the vehicles may also have been injured. While the injuries for at least two of the motorists were considered major, all are expected to survive, the CHP said. The street was blocked for about an hour before authorities cleared the scene. Alexander Law Group, LLP is a nationally-recognized and award-winning personal injury law firm with offices in San Jose and San Francisco. We are passionate about our clients and our community. We are advocates for [...] Read more »
