A Bay Area police officer is accused of crashing into a family car

A Bay Area police officer is facing hit-and-run charges after he allegedly washed his family’s car on the freeway before driving off, later insisting it was an emergency.

The Alameda County District Attorney announced charges this week against San Leandro Police Chief Angela Averiett, who was placed on leave Wednesday after speaking publicly about the incident and defending her actions.

“I know that a case of misconduct related to the traffic incident that happened in May 2025 has been opened,” he said in a press conference. “I was driving an unmarked police vehicle on Interstate 580 when I allegedly had contact with another vehicle. The CHP responded, investigated, and found no probable cause to issue a statement.”

Averiett also said he did not intentionally leave the scene of the crash on Interstate 580 in Dublin because the damage reported was “very minor.”

According to her report, she was returning home from a city council meeting when she believed she was experiencing a “medical emergency.”

He said he turned on the police lights on the Jeep that was pulled out of the door and then exited the highway after he felt chest pains.

Authorities say Averiett cut off a car while driving in the middle of the road.

The California Highway Patrol later investigated the collision. Averiett reportedly told police he had chest pains that subsided over time.

CHP investigators ultimately declined to pursue charges at that time, citing Averiett’s claim that he was unaware the collision had occurred despite the damage to both vehicles.

The driver of the other car, Daffani Ryan, was on her way home from a San Francisco Giants game with her husband and two children when the accident happened, according to ABC 7.

Ryan immediately called 911 after the collision.

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The argument escalated after Ryan alleged that a San Leandro police officer contacted him later and offered to pay for the damage to the car if he chose not to report the incident.

The officer identified in that lawsuit was Antwinette Turner, who now works as a deputy chief at Bay Area Rapid Transit.

The accident has since become part of an internal dispute within the San Leandro Police Department.

Earlier this year, Sgt. Mike Olivera filed a nine-page complaint accusing Averiett of “a troubling pattern of lack of accountability, selective enforcement and cover-up of violations.”

Mike Rains, an attorney representing the San Leandro Police Officers’ Association, told ABC 7 he believes the king received special treatment.

Officials of the union say that the efficiency of the department has been disturbed as the officials wonder if the officers of the rank would have been treated in the same way.

Averiett has worked in Bay Area law enforcement since 2001 and has worked with the Hayward Police Department and BART police.