The driver facing charges that his pickup jumped the sidewalk Saturday in Walnut Creek and killed a Santa Barbara math teacher is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday at the earliest, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney.
Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jimmy Lee said that as of Monday, Hossein Tabrizi was in custody on $50,000 bail, arrested over the weekend on a charge of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
The charge stems from the death of Sherry Hicks on Saturday, who was in Walnut Creek visiting her son, Casey Hahn and his new wife, Sheng Hahn, who was also injured by the pickup allegedly driven by Tabrizi.
"He was speeding and he came directly at us," Casey Hahn told NBC Bay Area on Monday. "He gave us no time to move. I saw his eyes before he killed my mom... She was the best person that ever lived."
Tabrizi declined a jail-house interview on Monday, and attempts to reach Tabrizi's family were not immediately successful.
Tabrizi has no prior criminal record in Contra Costa County, but has three prior convictions in Ventura County, including two alcohol-related crimes, court records show.
The 53-year-old Walnut Creek resident is accused of driving his pickup into Hicks, 52, a 20-year Santa Barbara math teacher veterab who had come to the East Bay to visit Hahn and Sheng Hahn with her husband. It was the first time she had seen her son in three months. The family was coming back from Starbucks near their home about 6: 15 p.m. when the pickup jumped the sidewalk, Casey Hahn said.
The truck slammed into Hicks on North Main Street at Parkside Drive near the Marriott Hotel, and Hicks flew into the center median and later died. Sheng Hahn was also struck and remained in "very critical" condition at John Muir Medical Center. Casey Hahn described his wife as an "absolute blessing," who is in intensive care and on a breathing tube, but appeared a bit better after surgery on Monday.
Two others were struck, but police said their injuries are not considered life threatening.
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According to Ventura County court records, Tabrizi pleaded no contest in June 2005 to driving while under the influence, and then was convicted for being drunk in public that same year. Records also show that he was convicted in 2007 of petty theft, for something stolen in December 2006.
The horrific Walnut Creek crash comes on the heels of another tragic fatality in April in nearby Concord.
In that crash, a 17-year-old boy was charged with the deaths of Solaiman Nuri and his 9-year-old daughter, Hadessa. The boy charged with speeding in an SUV down Treat Boulevard when he lost control and fatally struck the father and daughter, who were out for a Saturday afternoon bike ride.
Casey Hahn wants Tabrizi understand his suffering, as he is left to grieve for his mother and pray that his wife will rebound.
"She's going to be better," Hahn said. "Because she is strong and she's never given up on anything in her life before. I will be with her every step of the way"
