Sacramento,CA : car crash that killed Pleasanton teacher on August, Thursday 3rd 2017
It appears there will be no criminal charges stemming from the violent car crash on the north end of town that killed Pleasanton Middle School teacher Carla Boerman during spring break earlier this year.
The Pleasanton Police Department's investigation found no evidence of criminal negligence on the part of the oncoming driver whose vehicle careened into the Boermans' car at the intersection of Hopyard Road and Owens Drive the evening of April 4, Sgt. Benjamin Sarasua confirmed this week.
The sergeant said he informed the Alameda County District Attorney's Office charging prosecutor of those findings during a conversation in early May, leading to the police department recommendation of no criminal charges.
"We were unable to prove that the driver of the Rav 4 was driving in any negligent manner," Sarasua said during an interview Tuesday. "It was just a very tragic accident."
A DA’s Office spokeswoman confirmed this week there is no criminal prosecution, saying the case has not been formally presented to them for consideration of charges.
Pleasanton police concluded the primary cause of the collision, according to Sarasua, was an unsafe turning movement by an oncoming driver -- which led to his Toyota Rav 4 clipping a curb and going airborne before crashing into the Subaru Outback carrying Boerman, her husband and their toddler granddaughter.
Police found no evidence of criminal negligence, such as impairment or speeding, on top of the lane-change infraction after a thorough investigation, Sarasua said.
The sergeant described the crash in detail Tuesday, beyond the initial information that has been available publicly since the first days after the fatal collision at the prominent intersection on the north side of Pleasanton, about a block south of the eastbound Interstate 580 ramps at Hopyard Road.
The Boermans' Subaru Outback was making a left from southbound Hopyard Road onto eastbound Owens Drive around 6 p.m. on April 4, according to Sarasua. With Brian Boerman behind the wheel, they were about the eighth or ninth vehicle to turn on the green arrow from the outer-most of two left-turn lanes.
At the same time, a Toyota Rav 4 with a male driver and female passenger was approaching the red light at the intersection traveling northbound on Hopyard Road at approximately 41 mph in the right-most straight lane, according to Sarasua.
Northbound Hopyard in that area, in front of the Shell gas station, consists of one left-turn lane, three straight lanes and a dedicated right-turn lane -- known as a slip lane -- separated from straight traffic initially with a bike lane and then a pedestrian island. It's a 45 mph zone.
According to Sarasua, the Rav 4 driver told police he swerved to the right, apparently to avoid hitting a car in front of him stopped at the light. The quick turn took the Rav 4 over the unoccupied pedestrian island and the vehicle ultimately came off the ground.
The airborne Rav 4 landed against the Outback, about one foot off the ground, almost directly on the front passenger side where 61-year-old Carla Boerman was seated, according to Sarasua.
The collision, which took place just barely east of the Hopyard Road crosswalk on Owens Drive, propelled the Rav 4 into a Nissan Versa that was turning left onto Owens in the lane next to the Boermans, according to Sarasua.
Boerman, a Pleasanton resident and a sixth- and eighth-grade English teacher at Pleasanton Middle School since 2015, suffered major injuries in the crash. Life-saving measures were attempted on her at the scene, and she was transported to Eden Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.
Family reported Brian Boerman was hospitalized after sustaining a traumatic brain injury in the collision. Their then-14-month-old granddaughter, who was properly restrained in a car seat, experienced minor injuries and was taken to Children's Medical Center, where she was treated and released.
The driver of the Rav 4 sustained minor injuries while his female passenger had a broken leg and ribs, according to Sarasua.
The sergeant said the Rav 4 driver was from out of town and properly licensed, but he declined to release any other identifying details about the at-fault driver -- including name or age -- citing the department's policy not to release personal details about people involved in traffic collisions with no criminal charges.
The third vehicle in the crash sustained moderate damage and its driver was uninjured, Sarasua said.
Pleasanton police investigated the crash for about a month afterward, leaving "no rock unturned," according to Sarasua.
The investigation determined the Rav 4 driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, wasn't distracted by a cellphone or other device, wasn't speeding nor was he driving in any apparent negligent manner, according to Sarasua.
The sergeant said the driver did claim brake malfunction but a California Highway Patrol inspection of the vehicle found no evidence of brake failure.
With no evidence of negligence, Sarasua said he met with the DA's Office in early May to review the investigation with the charging prosecutor, as is department practice. The sergeant said he came out of that meeting understanding there was not probable cause to pursue an arrest for criminal prosecution.
"It was an unsafe turning movement ... not enough to support some type of vehicular manslaughter case," Sarasua said Tuesday.
With that conclusion, Sarasua said there was no probable cause declaration nor other case documentation filed with the DA's Office -- as would be the situation for any incident involving no criminal negligence, and thus not requiring criminal prosecution, he said.
But that also appears to mean the DA's Office has no record of officially reviewing Boerman's death for possible criminal charges.
Asked for comment on the status of the Boerman case and related decision-making about possible prosecution, DA's Office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said Wednesday, "The matter was never formally presented, nor brought to our office for consideration of charging."
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car crash that killed Pleasanton teacher