In a surprising turn of events, a police chief from the Bay Area is now facing accusations of a hit-and-run. The charges allege that she sideswiped a family’s car on the highway and then left the scene, later claiming that she might have been suffering from a medical emergency at the time.
This week, the Alameda County District Attorney filed charges against Angela Averiett, the Police Chief of San Leandro. Following these developments, Chief Averiett was placed on administrative leave. During a public statement, she defended her actions regarding the incident.
“I am aware that a misdemeanor charge has been filed in connection with a traffic incident from May 2025,” she stated at a press conference. “I was operating an unmarked police vehicle on Interstate 580 when an alleged contact occurred with another vehicle. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) conducted an investigation and did not find grounds to issue a citation.”
Averiett further explained that she did not intentionally leave the scene of the accident on Interstate 580 in Dublin, asserting that the damage was “minimal.”
She recounted that she was on her way home from a city council meeting when she started to believe she was experiencing what she described as a “medical emergency.”
Feeling chest pains, she said she activated the police lights on her department-issued Jeep and promptly exited the highway.
Authorities said Averiett clipped a vehicle while driving in the center median area.
California Highway Patrol officers later investigated the collision. Averiett reportedly told officers she had chest pains that later subsided.
CHP investigators ultimately declined to pursue hit-and-run charges at the time, citing Averiett’s claim that she was unaware any collision had occurred despite damage found on both vehicles.
The driver of the other vehicle, Daffani Ryan, had been traveling home from a San Francisco Giants game with her husband and two children when the crash occurred, according to ABC 7.
Ryan immediately called 911 after the collision.
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The controversy deepened after Ryan alleged that a San Leandro police lieutenant later contacted her and offered to pay for the vehicle damage if she chose not to report the incident.
The officer identified in that claim was Antwinette Turner, who now serves as a deputy chief with Bay Area Rapid Transit.
The crash has since become part of a broader internal dispute within the San Leandro Police Department.
Earlier this year, Sgt. Mike Olivera filed a nine-page complaint accusing Averiett of a âtroubling pattern of lack of accountability, selective enforcement and concealment of violations.â
Mike Rains, an attorney representing the San Leandro Police Officersâ Association, told ABC 7 he believes the chief received preferential treatment.
Union officials say morale inside the department has suffered as officers question whether rank-and-file cops would have been treated the same way.
Averiett has worked in Bay Area law enforcement since 2001 and previously served with the Hayward Police Department and BART Police.
