FREMONT — Alameda County prosecutors had been unable to make costs stick towards a person in his 70s who allegedly struck and killed a bicyclist whereas commuting to considered one of his two jobs at 2 a.m., court docket data present.
The defendant, David Tay, 72, was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter within the Nov. 9, 2022 crash that killed Ruben David Rodriguez Jr., 29, in Fremont. From the get-go, police revealed that Rodriguez’s blood/alcohol degree was twice the authorized restrict and that he was bicycling the mistaken was down Central Avenue in Fremont on the time Tay allegedly struck him.
However at Tay’s 2024 preliminary listening to, a choose threw out the manslaughter cost, discovering that there wasn’t even proof that Tay knew he’d hit something apart from scrap metallic, and {that a} second motorist struck Rodriguez’s bicycle afterwards with out noticing it. Decide Paul Delucchi additionally diminished the second cost, leaving the scene of an accident, from a felony to a misdemeanor, data present.
This might not survive a (movement to dismiss)m” Delucchi mentioned on the listening to.
Final March, prosecutors threw out what was left of the case, in accordance with court docket data. Earlier than that listening to, Tay’s lawyer filed a prolonged movement to dismiss saying that Rodriguez was bicycling erratically, and had gotten off his bike and bent down on the time of the collision, leaving himself out of Tay’s line of sight. The movement additionally says that Tay, who was 69 on the time, labored an evening shift at an Amazon middle and a day shift at his son’s autobody store every day and was commuting to the previous job on the time.
Prosecutors didn’t oppose the movement to dismiss. Two members of Rodriguez’s household learn sufferer impression statements earlier than the case was dismissed, in accordance with court docket data.
