{"id":432268,"date":"2026-08-14T00:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T00:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432268\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T00:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T00:44:13","slug":"family-of-man-killed-in-oakland-police-ghost-chase-will-get-17m-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432268\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of man killed in Oakland police \u2018ghost chase\u2019 will get $17M settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than four years after one of the most violent collisions in Oakland\u2019s epidemic of traffic violence left one person dead and four others badly injured, the family of bystanders at the center of the tragedy settled their lawsuit against the city today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the Pointer and Buelna law firm, the city will pay $17 million to the Soakai family, including Lavinia Soakai, Daniel Fifita, Ina Lavalu, and Samieuela Finau, who all sustained injuries in the 2022 crash. Lavinia\u2019s son, 28-year-old Lolomania Soakai, was struck in the crash and killed.<\/p>\n

The family, including Lolomania, his mother, and their cousins, had stopped on June 26, 2022, at a late-night taco truck in Oakland after a relative\u2019s graduation ceremony. Around the same time, 19-year-old Arnold Linaldi was allegedly participating in a sideshow blocks away when he fled from two Oakland police officers, Walid Abdelaziz and Jimmy Marin-Coronel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The officers chased Linaldi on International Boulevard but failed to turn on their emergency lights or siren, or seek authorization from their supervisors to conduct the chase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The brief pursuit reached speeds up to 100 mph until Linaldi lost control of his car and hit a row of parked motorcycles and cars, some of which were occupied by Soakai\u2019s cousins and his mother, who were waiting for food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A motorcycle hit by Linaldi landed on Lolomania, who died at the scene.<\/p>\n

At a vigil a few days later, his cousin Ina Lavalu told<\/a> The Oaklandside that a screeching sound pierced the night at the moment of the crash, as the inertia of Linaldi\u2019s car sent the parked cars and motorcycles onto the sidewalk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After seeing the crash ahead of them, the two OPD officers failed to stop and render aid and instead drove away, with one of the officers saying on a police camera that he wished Linaldi had died.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Lolomanaia Soakai\u2019s family announced a lawsuit in January 2023 against the City of Oakland, alleging negligence by Oakland Police officers during a chase that led to his death. Credit: Pointer Buelna law firm<\/p>\n

Adant\u00e9 Pointer, one of the family\u2019s lawyers, said today in a press release announcing the settlement that once 911 was called and emergency responders were racing to the scene, Marin-Coronel and Abdelaziz showed up, pretending to be unaware of the horrendous crash they caused.<\/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 said Pointer. \u201cThat level of indifference to the death and suffering they caused is simply outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Oaklandside was unable to reach Marin-Coronel or Abdelaziz for comment. Both officers were put on administrative leave and resigned in 2025, according to KTVU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very traumatic. I can\u2019t sleep. I can\u2019t eat. I toss and turn. Nothing\u2019s the same anymore,\u201d Lavalu said at the 2022 vigil.<\/p>\n

The city attempted to have the Soakai family\u2019s lawsuit thrown out<\/p>\n

The Soakai family filed suit<\/a> against Oakland and the two police officers in 2023. The city responded by invoking the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, which cities across the country have used to avoid liability for alleged negligence by their officers. Qualified immunity basically says that if police officers make a mistake, or even kill or maim a person, they can\u2019t be sued if they were acting in good faith as part of their job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The officers argued at the Ninth Circuit that they should not be liable because the person who was killed in the chase they initiated was not the suspect they were after.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Oakland and secured the family\u2019s right to sue the officers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see no reason to think that conduct is any less shocking when it injures someone other than the intended target, particularly when harm to a third party is a clear, known risk and is entirely foreseeable,\u201d Judges Susan Graber and Michelle Friedland wrote in their decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the Soakai family for refusing to give up,\u201d Buelna, another of the family\u2019s attorneys, said in the press release today. \u201cFor nearly four years, they fought to hold these officers accountable, taking their case from federal district court all the way to the United States Supreme Court and back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

A vigil after the deadly collision saw dozens of friends and family protest the actions of the Oakland police officers. Credit: Jose Fermoso<\/p>\n

The protesters at the vigil took over International Boulevard to ask for justice for their loved one. Credit: Jose Fermoso<\/p>\n

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