OAKLAND — A 26-year-old San Leandro man has been charged with vehicular manslaughter in a 2022 hit-and-run crash that killed an elderly Oakland woman, according to authorities and court records.
Jose Perez was charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving in the May 31, 2022 death of 73-year-old Emelia Martinez Roa, according to a news release from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. He also faces potential sentencing enhancements for prior convictions and violence or bodily harm.
If convicted, Perez could be sentenced to six years in state prison, according to prosecutors. He was arrested in January, according to court records, and has been in custody since then. He was scheduled for an April 25 arraignment.
Police said Martinez was crossing 16th Avenue at International Boulevard in a marked crosswalk around 5:33 p.m. when she was hit by a white Hummer SUV that was turning northbound onto 16th Avenue from International. It was later determined the vehicle had been stolen in San Francisco, police said.
Perez was allegedly driving the stolen vehicle at the time and hit and killed Martinez without stopping to call for help or render aid, prosecutors said. Martinez was taken to a hospital where she later died.
Perez was later identified as the driver by surveillance video in the area and his DNA was also found in the vehicle, authorities said.
“Taking a walk in Alameda County should not end with someone losing their life due to the negligence of a driver behind the wheel of a motor vehicle,” District Attorney Pamela Price said in a statement. “The victim may have survived this tragedy if the person driving would have paid attention to the road before the collision and stopped to help afterward.”
Perez evaded arrest until Jan. 26 of this year, when he was spotted driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen out of Union City; Hayward police pursued him into Oakland, where he was arrested, according to court records.
He was charged with vehicle theft, possession of stolen property and evading an officer with willful disregard in that case. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
Staff writer Harry Harris contributed to this report;
