Judge asks for more evidence in civil suit against Oakland, California Highway Patrol over fatal vehicle collision

The estate of Marvin Boomer, Jr. claims the city of Oakland and state law enforcement are liable for his death.SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A federal judge in California Wednesday indicated he was likely to dismiss multiple claims brought by the estate of an Oakland educator who was killed last May after a vehicle that was being pursued by California Highway Patrol struck him.U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said he was inclined to dismiss, with leave to amend, plaintiffs’ claims of state-created danger and deliberate indifference to allow for the individual California Highway Patrol officers who were pursuing the vehicle that fatally struck Marvin Boomer, Jr. to be named in the complaint.“This seems like a case against the CHP officers. It doesn’t seem like a case against everybody else,” Orrick said.The Barack Obama appointee further said the plaintiffs did not adequately state their Monell municipal liability claim and violations of California’s Bane Act, which permits lawsuits over interference with constitutional rights through threats, intimidation or coercion.However, the judge declined to dismiss claims of wrongful death and negligence, but asked the parties for further information as to whether California Highway Patrol and its officers would be protected under state law that grants law enforcement immunity from civil liability for injury or death resulting from the collision of a vehicle that is being pursued.In a statement to Courthouse News, Michelle Bernard, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the court’s ruling “denied nearly every effort by the City of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department, the State of California, and the California Highway Patrol to escape accountability in this case.”“Dr. Marvin Boomer, Jr. gave his life protecting the woman he loved, and this family will not rest until the truth of what happened to him, and to Ms. Woodruff, is fully known, and the responsible parties held accountable,” she added.Representatives for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Boomer, Jr., an educator with a PhD in education research and policy analysis, was killed after being hit by a car while he was taking an evening walk with his partner Ta Ta Neshe “Nina” Woodruff on May 28, 2025.Eric Scott Hernandez Garcia, then 18 years old, was driving the vehicle that killed Boomer during what the plaintiffs describe was a high-speed chase with California Highway Patrol.Hernandez Garcia was arrested the same day as the fatal collision and charged with vehicular manslaughter. He is currently being held without bail in the Santa Rita jail.Woodruff and Boomer’s parents filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Oakland, the Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Hernandez Garcia and his mother, Gabina Hernandez Garcia, who owned the vehicle that struck Boomer, in San Francisco Superior Court on May 25, 2026. The case was moved to federal court in July.In the complaint, the plaintiffs say the vehicle that hit Boomer and Woodruff was fleeing from California Highway Patrol when it struck a sinkhole, hit a fire hydrant and then crashed into the pair, killing Boomer.The plaintiffs say Boomer pushed Woodruff out of the way of the path of the oncoming vehicle, saving her life, though she sustained “catastrophic” physical, emotional and psychological injuries from the collision, including traumatic brain injury.California Highway Patrol disputes the plaintiffs’ accusations, claiming officers lawfully attempted to stop the vehicle Hernandez Garcia was driving, but ended their pursuit of the vehicle after they saw him driving “erratically and at excessive speeds.”The plaintiffs argue Boomer’s death was preventable and caused by the failure of law enforcement and city officials to address speeding and dangerous road conditions, including the sinkhole that Hernandez Garcia’s vehicle struck before the fatal collision.The plaintiffs claim California Highway Patrol had opportunities to detain Hernandez Garcia before the collision and any claims that the law enforcement agency had “terminated” their pursuit of the car before it killed Boomer are “legally meaningless,” because Hernandez Garcia believed he was being pursued by police.They further accuse responding law enforcement officers of failing to secure the scene or provide reasonable emergency assistance, claiming officers treated Woodruff as a potential suspect while she was injured and questioned her instead of securing medical care.“This case is about far more than a tragic crash. It is about systemic failure. It is about dangerous pursuit tactics, ignored public warnings, neglected infrastructure, institutional indifference, and the entirely foreseeable consequences of governmental actors placing innocent lives at extreme and unnecessary risk,” the plaintiffs say in the complaint.Categories / Courts, RegionalSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads