Family of SF Hit-and-Run Victim Files Claim Against City

Six months after Hanako Abe, 27, was hit and killed in a San Francisco cross walk by a parolee, her family is taking action by filing a claim against the city of San Francisco and San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

They hope will honor their daughter by making the city a safer place.

“My beloved daughter is gone,” said Hiroko Abe.

Hanako Abe was hit and killed in San Francisco on New Year’s Eve as she walked in a crosswalk.

Speaking through a translator from Japan, Hiroko Abe said that ever since Hanako Abe's death, she has learned about what led up to it. She decided to take legal action against San Francisco to force change.

“The more I learned about it, the more I learned there were serious communication issues that lead to the accident and it appears to me these issues were going on before,” she said.

Attorney Ara Jabagchourian filed a wrongful death claim against the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco District Attorney's Office on Wednesday.

Jabagchourian said the hit-and-run suspect, Troy McAlister should not have been behind the wheel of the car that hit and killed Hanako Abe.

The claim said the parolee would have been behind bars if the DA, police and state parole agents communicated properly.

Instead, an unanswered email about a December 2020 arrest led to McAlister’s release.

“It's an email that sits in people’s inboxes. Someone didn't respond because people were on vacation during the holidays and because of no action, the action was taken to release someone,” Jabagchourian said.

The Abe family is seeking changes to communication protocols and monetary compensation for the death of their daughter.

A death they said was preventable.

“Hanako loved San Francisco with a passion any action that will make San Francisco safer and where people can be free and safe that would be Hanako's wish." Hiroko Abe said.

The San Francisco City Attorney’s Office told NBC Bay Area on Wednesday night that it is reviewing the claim.