A civil jury in Placer County is now weighing whether Sacramento Kings minority owner Phil Oates, chairman of the Buzz Oates Group, must pay damages for the death of retired California Highway Patrol officer Patrick Mulderrig, 59, who was killed in a Granite Bay crash. The wrongful-death suit, filed by Mulderrig’s widow, Miranda Flores, alleges Oates made an illegal turn onto Douglas Boulevard near Kingsgate Drive on May 14, 2024, striking Mulderrig’s motorcycle. Mulderrig died of his injuries. The Placer County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case for a possible manslaughter charge but declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence of a criminal act, leaving the question of liability to the civil jury instead.
According to FOX40, CHP’s Auburn office initially investigated the collision as a possible hit-and-run, noting that bystanders who stopped to help had not witnessed the crash itself, and investigators asked the public for video or eyewitness accounts. ABC10 reported that CHP referred the case to prosecutors for a manslaughter review before the District Attorney’s Office closed out the criminal side of the investigation without filing charges. Flores’s attorneys have argued Oates should have faced citation or prosecution, and are now asking the civil jury to determine fault and damages more than two years after the crash.