No charges filed in the crash that killed Burlingame boy

“We, the family, do not agree with this decision,” Fang said. “If that’s the way [the justice system] is set up, that the DA can make that call without the jury making that call, I think that’s a premature decision [and] unfair for the victim.”  

The crash occurred when the driver pulled out of an adjacent city parking lot and collided with an e-bike traveling east on Donnelly Avenue. The e-bike riders, an 11-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl, were operating a Class 2, two-person bike legally and in accordance with traffic laws, Burlingame police Lt. David Perna said previously. 

After the collision with the e-bike, the compact SUV driver accelerated, crossing the street forward, over the curb and into two pedestrian children and the restaurant, Perna said previously. 

The totality of the facts of the situation led the DA’s Office to the decision not to press charges, Baum said. 

“We didn’t think we would be able to convince 12 members of a jury there was criminal negligence here,” she said. “That’s not to say there wasn’t some other kind of negligence … because obviously it’s a horrible thing that happened.” 

Any consideration of removing the driver’s license would be handled separately from the DA’s Office, by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Baum said. 

“Given what happened, the driver should not continue to be driving,” Fang said. “She is proven to create a fatal mistake.” 

Particularly given that Burlingame has seen two other fatal crashes in recent years, Fang said he hoped all responsible parties would take action to prevent such tragic incidents from occurring in the future. 

“We, the family and community, would want all parties responsible and involved in this incident — driver, drivers’ family, bikers’ parents, city — to do what they can to prevent such things from happening again and make the streets safe,” he said. “They all need to own up to the responsibility.”