The Alameda County District Attorney announced on Wednesday, Nov. 2, that no charges will be filed against the driver who fatally struck Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan in Alameda last year.

The decision came almost a year to the day Chan was killed. District Attorney Nancy O’Malley decided not to press charges against the driver after her office reviewed the investigative police report by the Alameda Police Department.

“The investigation of the death of Supervisor Chan was very thorough and comprehensive,” read a statement from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to the Alameda Sun. “Based on the investigation, including hours of witness interviews and a re-creation of the scene, and the careful review of the law, the District Attorney’s Office determined that no charges against the driver of the car could be filed, sustained, or proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

O’Malley added, “Our community continues to mourn the loss of Supervisor Chan; our hearts are still broken. The impact on our community made by Supervisor Chan will live on forever. Her loss leaves a void in Alameda County.”

Chan was struck by a vehicle while walking her dog at the intersection of Shore Line Drive and Grand Street on Nov. 3, 2021, just after 8 a.m. (“Farewell, Wilma Chan,” Nov. 9, 2021; https://alamedasun.com/news/farewell-wilma-chan) She was transported by the Alameda Fire Department to Highland Hospital in Oakland where she succumbed to her injuries, according to an Alameda Police Department report. The driver of the vehicle, an adult female, remained on the scene and cooperated with the investigation. She has not been identified.

After Chan’s death, many Alameda residents and politicians expressed the need for more traffic procedures to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from vehicle traffic. At its Feb. 15 meeting, the City Council voted in favor of renaming Constitution Way to Wilma Chan Way, after a request from her children (“City Council Votes in Favor of Renaming Constitution Way to Wilma Chan Way,” Feb. 18; https://alamedasun.com/news/city-council-votes-favor-renaming-constituti...).

Chan was the first Asian American elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors after her first term from 1994 to 2000. Chan was then elected to the California State Assembly in 2000, becoming the first Asian American Majority Leader of the Senate and authoring groundbreaking legislation. Her term ended in 2006. In 2010, Chan returned to the Board of Supervisors District 3, which encompasses the City of Alameda, where she held the position until her death.

Former Alameda City Councilmember Lena Tam and Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan are vying for Chan’s former seat in the November election.