More Pride honorees named
ARTS
10
17
29
'Kinky Boots'
Prince
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Wallace describes hit-andrun crash
Vol. 46 • No. 17 • April 28-May 4, 2016
Vexing year for lesbian GGNRA superintendent
by Seth Hemmelgarn
T
he man accused of killing a gay San Francisco man in a hit-and-run crash says he didn’t realize he’d hit someone until days later, and he didn’t turn himself Courtesy SFPD in because of his son. Brendan Wallace, Brendan Wallace 33, of Daly City, was arrested earlier this month for the November death of Dennis Nix, 60. He’s pleaded not guilty to charges including felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter. Nix, a well-known financial planner, had been riding his scooter around 2 a.m. November 22 near his Ingleside district home when he was hit. In an interview Friday, April 22 in San Francisco County Jail #5, where he’s being held on $400,000 bail, Wallace expressed remorse for what happened to Nix. “He lost his life, and I’m fighting for mine,” Wallace said. The incident started when he and another man were going home after visiting a friend in the city. “All of a sudden, there was an accident,” said Wallace, who was calm for much of the interview but gestured wildly when recounting what happened. “We hit something. I didn’t know what it was at first,” he said, but he recalled thinking, “Crap, my wife is going to kill me.” He and his wife had just bought the car, a used Mercedes. “The airbag popped out” immediately, and with it came smoke and dust, Wallace said. “I didn’t see Mr. Nix at all the whole time,” and he didn’t see Nix’s scooter, he said. Eventually, he said, “My car stopped running.” Asked what he saw when he got out, he said, “I didn’t even look at the car. I was just panicking, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to get home,’” adding, “I was scared. ... I knew my wife was going to kill me.” He said he didn’t stop right away because he’d panicked. “I didn’t know what to do,” he said. He now sees, “I should have handled it a little bit differently, but you can’t go back in time.” Heinz Raimol “Rymo” Cortado, 34, who allegedly came to pick up Wallace after the crash, has pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory after the fact and giving police false information. Wallace said it was his passenger who called Cortado. See page 8 >>
by Matthew S. Bajko
O
f the 410 National Park Service units throughout the U.S., Christine Lehnertz has visited 75 to date. The list includes Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine and Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in Saint Augustine, Florida to North Cascades National Park in Washington State and the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego. See page 2 >>
Christine Lehnertz, the superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, stands in a community garden outside her office at Fort Mason.
Lyft sued over gay man’s death by Seth Hemmelgarn
T
he boyfriend of a man killed in a crash involving Lyft and the dead man’s mother are suing the ride-hailing company, saying Lyft’s negligence caused the man’s death. Shane Holland, 24, and Brady Lawrence, now 29, were heading back to their West Sacramento home November 1, 2014 after a Halloween party when they requested a Lyft car driven by Shanti Adhikari, 31. According to the California Highway Patrol, Adhikari was speeding on Interstate 80 in Sacramento and lost control of his Toyota Camry, hitting two trees. Holland was killed, while Lawrence suffered a concussion and other injuries. The CHP found Adhikari at fault, but prosecutors declined to file criminal charges. Lyft is based in San Francisco. In wrongful death complaints filed in July in San Francisco Superior Court, Lawrence and Donna Dinapoli, 55, Holland’s mother, say Lyft “negligently and carelessly” hired Adhikari, and the company had “created the impression” that Adhikari was Lyft’s employee. They “were harmed because they reasonably relied” on their belief, court documents say, and Lyft was responsible for Adhikari’s conduct. The San Francisco Examiner has reported that according to Dinapoli, Adhikari “had a speeding violation the year before, and drove without proper insurance.” In its response to the complaints filed in court, Lyft denied all allegations. Specifically,
Jane Philomen Cleland
Donna Dinapoli, left, and Brady Lawrence are suing Lyft after an accident killed Shane Holland, who was Dinapoli’s son and Lawrence’s boyfriend.
the company says, Holland’s own “negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct” caused his injuries, and that he’d “failed to exercise ordinary care under the circumstances present prior to the alleged subject incident.” Additionally, the company says in its response that it’s “a technology company, not a transportation company or common carrier, thus any common carrier causes of action should therefore be barred in accordance with the law.” Among other claims, Lyft also says that “one or more of the named defendant,” presumably Adhikari, “was not an employee of Lyft Inc. at
Rick Gerharter
the time of the accident.” A news release from Jones Clifford, the law firm representing Lawrence and Dinapoli, says the case raises “fundamental questions about core underpinnings of the company’s business and profit model – that is, Lyft’s ability to minimize personnel and insurance costs by insisting it is not a transportation provider and that its drivers are not employees.” J. Kevin Morrison, the attorney representing Dinapoli and Lawrence, said they’re hoping Lyft will institute stricter background checks, among other changes. The firm provided emails that Lyft sent to Lawrence. In one email, sent the day of the crash, a Lyft representative indicated the company was lacking critical details about what happened. “Your driver Shanti let us know about the accident,” the email says. The company had “erased the cost” of the ride “and added one free ride of up to $25 to your account.” The next day, however, another email said, “We are now aware of the severity of the accident and would like to send our deepest condolences to you and Shane’s loved ones for this terrible loss.” Another email said, “If you have sustained any potential injuries as a result of this accident, we encourage you to seek medical attention right away. Please rest assured that Lyft has insurance which will cover the cost of your medical care.” See page 13 >>
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