{"id":6858,"date":"2026-08-15T12:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T12:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6858"},"modified":"2026-08-15T12:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T12:36:24","slug":"oakland-to-pay-17-million-for-death-of-man-during-alleged-ghost-chase-attorney-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6858","title":{"rendered":"Oakland to pay $17 million for death of man during alleged ‘ghost chase,’ attorney says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The city of Oakland reached a $17 million settlement this week with the family of a man killed by a speeding car fleeing two Oakland police officers, who later tried hiding their role in the unauthorized chase and the ensuring wreck.<\/p>\n

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The city\u2019s payout comes more than four years after the death of Lolomanaia \u201cLolo\u201d Soakai, 27, who was celebrating a relative\u2019s graduation and waiting with his mother at a taco truck on International Boulevard when he and several other people were bowled over by the speeding car. His mother suffered a broken back, while three nearby family members suffered other injuries in the crash.<\/p>\n

Soakai\u2019s family later claimed in a lawsuit against the city that the two police officers \u201cwatched the carnage, injuries and death\u201d unfold, then left the scene without alerting emergency medical services or documenting the alleged \u201cghost chase.\u201d The term is often used to describe unauthorized pursuits where police officers do not activate their vehicles\u2019 sirens or lights, in an attempt to avoid scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The attorney for Soakai\u2019s family said Friday the case highlights how \u201coverzealous\u201d officers who try to cover up their misdeeds \u201cwill be punished, and you will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why body cameras and all the monitoring that\u2019s coming into play right now is so important \u2014 police show us time and time again they can\u2019t be trusted to police themselves,\u201d said the attorney, Adant\u00e9 Pointer. \u201cThis was two officers who were committed to trying to skirt responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city initially fought the lawsuit by claiming the officers were protected by qualified immunity. However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the family\u2019s lawsuit to move forward, citing how the officers started a high-speed chase with a goal of harming a fleeing suspect, all the while violating department policies and putting the public at risk, according to Pointer\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

Oakland\u2019s city attorney\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the pending payout. The city council has yet to give final approval to the settlement, and a vote on the matter is expected in September, Pointer said.<\/p>\n

Soakai was hit shortly before 2 a.m. on June 26, 2022, as the two Oakland police officers \u2014 Walid Abdelaziz and Jimmy Marin-Coronel \u2014 were chasing a 19-year-old person they suspected of being involved in a sideshow elsewhere in East Oakland.<\/p>\n

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Police said the teen at the wheel of the Nissan 350Z drove at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour during the pursuit \u2014 during which the officers never turned on their sirens or lights, Pointer said.<\/p>\n

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When the teen driver lost control of the car on International Boulevard near 54th Avenue, the officers continued past the scene without stopping to render aid, the family\u2019s lawsuit claimed. Body camera footage later revealed that one of the officers remarked at the time that he hoped the teen driver had died in the crash, Pointer said.<\/p>\n

Minutes later, after waiting in a parking lot for other officers to respond to the crash, Abdelaziz and Marin-Coronel arrived on scene and were seen \u201cpretending to be unaware of the horrendous crash they caused,\u201d according to a statement announcing the settlement.<\/p>\n

The officers were subsequently suspended and no longer work for the Oakland Police Department, Pointer said Friday.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, Pointer added that the officers\u2019 indifference was \u201coutrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter more than 20 years representing victims of police violence, this is one of the most sickening displays of police violence and indifference I have ever seen,\u201d added Adant\u00e9 in a statement. \u201cTwo officers chased a car at more than 100 mph through city streets, watched it crash, joked about what happened and then drove away without even calling for medical aid for the innocent people who had been hurt and killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Oakland police officers had to abide by a policy \u2013 adopted in 2014 \u2014 that limited high-speed vehicle pursuits, except in cases of serious or violent crimes. In those exceptions, officers had weigh risks to the safety of other motorists or bystanders.<\/p>\n

The city has since eased that policy, with the Oakland Police Commission voting unanimously in September 2025 to allow police to initiate pursuits of more than 50 miles per hour at their own discretion, so long as they receive a supervisor\u2019s permission soon afterward. The change came over the objections of police accountability advocates who held up Soakai\u2019s death as a prime reason for keeping the old pursuit rules.<\/p>\n

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Lolomanaia \u201cLolo\u201d Soakai, 27, died in the wreck<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOakland to pay $17 million for death of man during alleged ‘ghost chase,’ attorney says - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oakland to pay $17 million for death of man during alleged ‘ghost chase,’ attorney says - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lolomanaia \u201cLolo\u201d Soakai, 27, died in the wreck\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-15T12:36:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Oakland to pay $17 million for death of man during alleged ‘ghost chase,’ attorney says\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-15T12:36:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8c01b81d728e6d492d016b4fdb9518cf.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6858\",\"name\":\"Oakland to pay $17 million for death of man during alleged ‘ghost chase,’ attorney says - 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