DUBLIN — The family of an Oakland pedestrian killed in a Mother’s Day vehicle collision announced it has filed a civil wrongful-death suit against the wealth manager, who was arraigned Wednesday on manslaughter and hit-and-run charges.
At that arraignment, Timothy Hamano, 64, appeared virtually to hear a judge set $125,000 bail in connection with those alleged offenses.
Angie Brey, partner of Gregory Turnage Jr., who was killed in the crash, joined Turnage’s mother Mina Carrillo and father Gregory Turnage Sr. along with attorneys to announce the suit Wednesday outside East County Hall of Justice after the arraignment. The suit was filed Wednesday on behalf of Turnage and Brey’s 10-year-old son Miles Brey-Turnage, seeking a jury trial and damages against Hamano.
In statements shared Wednesday afternoon, San Francisco-based attorney Boone Callaway decried the tragic death.
“Gregory was standing on the sidewalk in his own neighborhood when he was run over and killed,” Callaway said.
“It shocked the community. It devastated this family. And it left this ten-year-old boy without a father. This lawsuit has one goal; to provide for the son Gregory left behind after he was struck by Mr. Hamano’s vehicle, who allegedly fled and left him to die.”
On Wednesday evening, Callaway acknowledged the rarity of the collision’s circumstances.
“The egregiousness of just running up on the sidewalk, and coupling that with a financially prominent defendant, you almost never see that,” he said. “Sometimes you see one or the other, but not both factors in the same case.”
Callaway also noted other restrictions against Hamano: “In addition to bail, he’s not driving, he’s not drinking, he’s staying at home with a monitor … [t]he big picture is that the court did not perceive he’s a big flight risk.”
Family members mourned the loss of a partner and father.
“I lost my son on Mother’s Day, and Miles lost his father,” Carrillo said. “This was a senseless death that was preventable had Mr. Hamano acted like a responsible adult.”
“We are struggling to navigate this overwhelming grief. Greg’s absence has left a devastating hole in our lives,” Angie Brey said. “Our son, Miles, cannot bring himself to speak about his father because it is too painful.
“My days have become an endless loop of reminders that our son and I are now forced to go on living without Greg. This has meant reliving the panic, trauma, and heartbreak on a daily basis, and the pain is relentless. Our family cannot begin our healing journey until justice has been done.”
VIDEO: Gregory Turnage Jr. family announces wrongful death lawsuit. CLICK HERE if you’re viewing on a mobile device.
Complaint documents obtained Wednesday name Hamano as defendant, saying he was the driver of the white 2007 Lexus LS 460 that left northbound Park Boulevard lanes around 5:15 p.m. May 9 and struck Turnage, 41, walking along a sidewalk near Beaumont Avenue.
According to the documents, Hamano was negligent when he “celebrated Mother’s Day and consumed alcoholic beverages at two or more different locations, including, but not limited to consuming multiple beers at a San Francisco golf course before relocating to a San Francisco restaurant where he consumed multiple drinks, including Bloody Marys and wine” before getting behind the Lexus’ wheel.
“Defendant Timothy Hamano was so intoxicated that he had difficulties communicating with the eyewitnesses at the scene of the accident,” the complaint alleges. In charging documents last month filed with the Alameda County district attorney’s office, an Oakland police officer attested that Hamano “fled the scene on foot leaving his injured wife […] failing to identify himself at the collision scene and not check on the well being of the pedestrian prior to fleeing.”
Turnage, who suffered critical injuries, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Hamano’s wife — who was in the car at the time of the crash and confirmed his identity to authorities — said in a statement to police that he had been drinking “alcoholic beverages throughout the day” before the collision. Hamano turned himself in after officers obtained a warrant for his arrest and checked his home, but his blood-alcohol level was never found in follow-up investigations.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
