Driver Charged With Murder In San Leandro Hells Angels Death
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- East Bay Paratransit driver Eddie Hall was charged with murder Tuesday for allegedly running over and killing Hells Angels motorcyclist George Lopez Jr. in San Leandro on Saturday.
Hall, a 31-year-old Oakland man, was also charged with attempted murder for striking a second motorcyclist that day, Ozzie Jesus Jose.
Prosecutors said Jose's bike was hit by the van, forced onto the shoulder and disabled, but that Jose was not injured.
Additionally, Hall faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident and attempting to escape by force or violence. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward on Tuesday afternoon.
Hall was arrested after striking Lopez, a 51-year-old Stockton man, on eastbound Interstate 580 near Grand Avenue in San Leandro at about 4 p.m. Saturday.
Hall had been traveling with a group of seven or eight other motorcyclists, San Leandro police Sgt. Doug Calcagno said.
Lopez was treated by Alameda County Fire Department personnel and then transported to a hospital, where he died a short time later.
San Leandro police Detective Anthony Morgan said in a declaration filed in court that Hall had collided with Lopez at freeway speeds.
Lopez was thrown from his motorcycle by the impact, and Hall continued driving with Lopez's motorcycle dragging under his bus for about 1.5 miles, until the motorcycle became engulfed in flames under the bus, Morgan said.
Hall stopped on the shoulder of the highway and fled on foot but was detained by an Alameda County sheriff's deputy, according to Morgan.
Morgan said Hall told police that "he was upset at the time because of the driving behavior of others and the behavior of the motorcyclists."
He said Hall "admitted to knowing the motorcycles were in the lane he intentionally swerved into and to knowing his actions would cause his bus to strike the motorcycle."
A witness told police that Hall "aggressively pulled the steering wheel to the left and collided with the motorcyclist," Morgan said.
Morgan said, "The totality of the circumstances led me to believe Hall unlawfully killed the motorcyclist with malice aforethought," which he said constitutes murder.
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