Suspect charged in hit-and-run death of Oakland bicyclist

OAKLAND — A man who initially claimed his SUV had been stolen has been charged in the April hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in East Oakland, according to authorities and court documents.

The suspect, Samir Gray, 26, of Pleasanton, was charged July 8 with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident causing death or serious injury and evasion with willful disregard for public safety, and misdemeanor counts of false report of a criminal offense and disobeying a court order.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Gray has previously spent time in federal prison for illegally selling guns.

He is accused of causing the death of Bartholomew “Bart” Drawsand, who died on April 29. Two days earlier, he was hit by an SUV while riding a bicycle about 7:23 p.m. in the area of 23rd Avenue and East 22nd Street. He was knocked some 45 feet, police said. The Range Rover SUV vehicle that struck him fled the scene.

Police recovered video from the scene indicating the Range Rover had been speeding before colliding with Drawsand.

According to court records, four minutes after the collision, traffic cameras recorded the SUV, which had major front end damage and a temporary license plate, traveling northbound on Park Boulevard. East Bay Regional Park District Police soon observed the SUV traveling eastbound on Interstate 580 from Park Boulevard. Though not aware at the time of the hit-and-run, EBRPD police attempted to stop the vehicle based on the damage making it unsafe on the roadway and the possibility it had been involved in a recent collision, the records say.

The Range Rover driver failed to yield to the park officers and fled, committing numerous violations of driving over the divided section of the roadway and exits, speed and other traffic violations in an attempt to flee, the records say. Park police lost sight of the vehicle and terminated the pursuit.

After the pursuit, EBRPD police conducted a check on the vehicle and determined the owner was Gray, the records say. EBRPD notified Oakland police and it was determined the vehicle matched the description of the hit and run vehicle.

After the EBRPD police pursuit, the traffic camera system picked up the vehicle in the area of MacArthur Boulevard and Pierson Avenue. Within twenty minutes of the collision, residential cameras in the 2000 block of Courtland Avenue in East Oakland recorded the vehicle being parked. The cameras picked up a subject matching Gray’s description getting out of the Range Rover and fleeing southbound on Courtland Avenue.

According to the records, within 4½ hours of the hit and run collision, Gray showed up at the Oakland Police Department headquarters building with a woman and they attempted to report that Range Rover stolen. The time frame in which Gray reported his vehicle being stolen covers the time of the collision, pursuit, and dumping of the vehicle, the records say..

After further investigation, Gray was arrested May 14 in North Oakland. He would not provide a statement about the collision, the records say. He was later released on $200,000 bail pending further investigation by police which resulted in the charges being filed Wednesday.

According to court records, Gray has three prior felony convictions: one in federal court in August of 2020 for dealing firearms without a license, another in September 2021 in Contra Costa County for grand theft exceeding $950, for which he was placed on probation and the third was in March 2017 in Contra Costa County for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

A June 2021 East Bay Times story about the gun case says he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, who called him a “very bright, capable man” whose crimes were “nevertheless terrible.”

Gray read an apology letter in court, saying he was sorry to his family and community and that he planned to return to work and go to school upon his release.

“During my incarceration I’ve had ample amount of time to reflect … on the consequences of those decisions,” Gray said, adding he failed to appreciate “how serious it was.”