A California Highway Patrol pursuit through East Oakland ended in tragedy on May 28, 2025, when the fleeing driver’s car struck a sinkhole near 12th Avenue and East 21st Street, veered into a fire hydrant and a tree, and sent debris into two pedestrians on the sidewalk. Castlemont High School math teacher Marvin Boomer, Jr. was struck and killed instantly; his partner, Nina Woodruff, was seriously injured, allegedly suffering a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures. The driver, then 18-year-old Eric Hernandez Garcia, was allegedly traveling at speeds close to 100 mph when he lost control. He was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter and remains held without bail. More than a year later, the case remains a flashpoint over CHP pursuit policies in residential neighborhoods.
According to Courthouse News, a federal judge in San Francisco indicated this week that he is likely to dismiss several claims in the resulting civil suit, including allegations of state-created danger, unless individual CHP officers involved in the pursuit are named as defendants. U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick declined to dismiss the wrongful death and negligence claims outright, but asked attorneys for the state and CHP to submit further briefing on whether a state law shielding law enforcement from liability in pursuit-related collisions applies here. The lawsuit, filed by Boomer’s family against the City of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and Hernandez Garcia, remains pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
