DUBLIN, Calif. (KRON) — Ten-year-old Miles struggles to talk about his father.
The last time he saw his dad was on Mother’s Day, when Miles and his father, Gregory Turnage, made breakfast-in-bed for Miles’ mother.
After celebrating Mother’s Day, Turnage went for his daily walk through their neighborhood on Park Boulevard in Oakland. As Turnage was walking, a white Lexus veered onto a sidewalk, striking Turnage.
According to police and prosecutors, the driver of the Lexus was a Bay Area wealth manager, Timothy Hamano. He remains out of jail on $100,000 bail.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jacob Blea had scathing words for Hamano in court Wednesday, calling him a “substantial danger to the community.”
Witnesses told police that Hamano got out of his Lexus, saw Turnage gravely injured, and fled the scene on foot. Police said Hamano even left his own wife behind, who was injured in the Lexus’ passenger front seat.
News reporters waited for Hamano to arrive at the East Bay Hall Of Justice courthouse in Dublin Wednesday for his arraignment. But he never showed up, and instead appeared via the court’s Zoom video feed.
Turnage’s mother told reporter about the pain of losing her son on Mother’s Day. She said a financially successful, highly education person like Hamano knows fleeing the scene of a crash is wrong.
The judge on Wednesday agreed with the victim’s mother, saying the Mother’s Day crash wasn’t simply an “accident.”
“I have to disagree that this is a ‘tragic accident.’ This accident was a result of what could only be a disregard for human life. This is someone who went onto the curb, to the sidewalk, and hit somebody. I think the defendant, even with the conditions I’m going to place, presents a substantial danger to the community,” Judge Blea said.
Hamano is charged with felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter.
Hamano did not enter a plea, and is scheduled to be arraigned again on August 4. Hamano’s defense attorney told the judge that his client’s bail should not be raised because he is not a flight risk.
“He’s 64, he’s never been in trouble,” Hamano’s defense attorney said.
The judge pointed out that Hamano already has a recent record of fleeing, when he fled from the Oakland crash scene.
The victim’s family members spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and announced their legal team, Callaway & Wolf, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Miles.
The lawsuit states that Hamano was also celebrating Mother’s Day leading up to the fatal crash. “On May 9, 2021, Mr. Hamano … consumed alcoholic beverages … including multiple beers at a San Francisco golf course, before consuming Bloody Mary’s and wine at a San Francisco restaurant,” the lawsuit states.
“Gregory was standing on the sidewalk in his own neighborhood when he was run over and killed,” attorney Boone Callaway said. “It shocked the community.”
The judge increased the severity of Humano’s bail conditions to home confinement, and banned him from driving or consuming alcohol.
Miles’ mother, Angie Brey, told reporters Wednesday, “Greg’s absence has left a devastating holes in our lives. Our son Miles cannot bring himself to speak about his father because it is too painful.”
“He has robbed my 10-year-old son of his father and me of my partner,” Brey said.
Brey said the hole created by her partner’s death will never be filled, but she hopes the Lexus driver receives the maximum punishment through the judicial system.
If convicted, Hamano faces up to 10 years in prison.