Oakland to pay police ‘ghost chase’ victims $17M
Oakland awards $17 million to family of innocent bystander killed
A family of innocent bystander killed during an unauthorized police chase in Oakland reacts to $17 million settlement awarded by the city.
OAKLAND, Calif. - The City of Oakland has agreed to pay $17 million to four family members who were injured in an unauthorized police "ghost chase" that also killed a 28-year-old relative.
Crash after "ghost chase"
The backstory:
Lolomanaia "Lolo" Soakai, his mother Lavinia Soakai and his cousins, Daniel Fifita, Ina Lavalu and Samieuela Finau were all victims in a June 26, 2022, crash that occurred after two former police officers started chasing a 19-year-old driver they thought was part of a sideshow without getting authorization to do so.
The fleeing driver crashed into a row of parked cars and motorcycles on International Boulevard. One of the motorcycles was launched into the air and fell on top of Soakai, killing him.
"All we’re left with now is pictures, memories, videos of him that we hold dearly in our hearts," said Soakai’s cousin Ina Lavalu, who suffered a concussion and back injury in the crash.
The settlement will be paid to Lavinia Soakai, Fifita, Lavalu and Finau.
"No amount of money is going to bring him back. He had a whole life ahead of him, and he didn’t deserve to go out like this," Lavalu said.
In addition to the physical injuries, Lavinia Soakai lost her home because her son – an airline supervisor at San Francisco International Airport – supported the family.
Police officers' ruse
Dig deeper:
After the crash, the two officers – Walid Abdelaziz and Jimmy Marin-Coronel – left the scene, and one of them made a joke about the crash, hoping that the fleeing driver was dead, according to body camera video from the scene.
They ended up circling back later to find Soakai dead and his mother’s back broken, while pretending this was the first they knew about the accident, according to the wrongful death suit and body camera video obtained by attorneys.
The settlement comes four years after the city and the officers' attorneys argued the police weren't responsible civilly for the crash because of a term known as "qualified immunity.
In January, the police attorneys even asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on this argument, claiming that the police did not violate a bystander's due process when the fleeing suspect they were chasing killed an innocent bystander, but the justices declined to take the case.
A lower court sided with Soakai's attorneys that Oakland police can be held responsible when bystanders are injured, or killed, during pursuits which are considered "reckless" and unconstitutional.
The officers' ruse was quickly uncovered by another officer and then-police chief Leronne Armstrong, who moved to fire them almost immediately.
Abdelaziz and Marin-Coronel received termination letters in 2023, but they remained on administrative leave, yet still employed with OPD, as the legal battle wound its way through many levels of court for more than three years.
Both resigned from OPD in 2025.
The driver:
The 19-year-old driver, Arnold Linaldi, pleaded guilty in May to vehicular manslaughter, and he was sentenced to two years in state prison.
He is now on parole, according to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
The Source: Interviews with family of Lolomanaia "Lolo" Soakai, previous KTVU reporting