Police: DUI driver arrested after fatal hit-and-run
Nickolaus Messina, 66, of Oakland faces allegations of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.
Berkeley police arrested a suspected DUI driver Tuesday night after a fatal hit-and-run crash, using a witness tip and Flock cameras to track him down.
Nickolaus Messina was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run, police said.
A witness spotted Messina's silver Kia Soul a few blocks from the crash scene and gave its license plate number to police, authorities said.
Officers entered the information into their Flock camera database.
Nickolaus Messina. BPD
More than two hours later, at about 9 p.m., the system reported that the Kia had entered Interstate 80 from Gilman Street in Berkeley, police said.
Officers found Messina on the freeway heading toward San Rafael and pulled him over.
The department credited the witness for their help and said the "timely alert" from Flock "helped them locate the suspect vehicle within hours of the collision."
This allowed officers "to investigate the driver’s possible impairment close in time" to the crash, Berkeley police said in a prepared statement.
Emilie Raguso
Police say Messina, a 66-year-old Oakland resident, struck the woman shortly before 6:40 p.m. as he headed west on Ashby Avenue at Regent Street.
Authorities do not know if she was in the street or on the sidewalk at the time of the collision.
Emergency personnel found the woman, 64, suffering from critical injuries. She was rushed to Highland Hospital, where she later died.
Her name was unavailable Wednesday pending family notification.
Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.
In 2021, another woman was fatally struck by a driver on Ashby Avenue, not far from Tuesday's crash.
Latitia Austin Ahmad, 54, was crossing Ashby at Newbury Street when the crash happened. Her family later held vigils at the intersection and called for justice and traffic safety improvements.
Berkeley police have investigated several other hit-and-run crashes in recent weeks:
- Oct. 7: A driver struck two grandparents visiting from Spain as they crossed University Avenue at Eighth Street, leaving both seriously injured. Police arrested a 22-year-old Richmond man on suspicion of felony hit-and-run after a witness tip and surveillance technology helped identify him.
- Oct. 26: A 61-year-old Berkeley man was arrested on suspicion of DUI and felony hit-and-run after striking a woman riding her bicycle on Euclid Avenue near Codornices Park. The cyclist sustained minor injuries.
- Oct. 26: A 47-year-old Oakland man was arrested on suspicion of DUI and hit-and-run after a three-vehicle crash at University and San Pablo avenues. Police said he ran a red light and fled the scene.
