PLEASANTON: Mrs Veena Chitkara was killed in a roadside accident on August 4 and her family and friends are outraged by the apparent apathy of the Pleasanton police and the District Attorney's office to this tragic death. Mrs Chitkara was taking a lunch time walk in Pleasanton when she was struck and run-over by a negligent driver inside a clearly marked pedestrian's cross walk at a stop sign. Naturally, Veena's family is left with a very deep loss.

They have lost a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter and, most importantly, a friend. While the family has tried to seek some answers from both the Police and District Attorneys' office, they are left wondering at the conclusion by these agencies, and disappointed by their attitude.When Veena Chitkara's family received the police report, the officer even seemed very dismissive calling it a "freak accident" and came across as almost defending the driver of the vehicle as "nice and honest". In fact, the only charge brought against the driver was a simple "failure to yield to a pedestrian."

An innocent woman was killed and this was the only charge brought against the driver? The community is appalled by the fact that law enforcement is content to let the driver of this vehicle walk away with a mere slap on the wrist. In search of answers, Veena Chitkara's family decided to approach the Assistant District Attorney, Jonathan Goodfellow.

They were again very disappointed to find that he was equally dismissive of the case. He seemed very confident that there was no crime involved in this incident other than a minor infraction and that he had decided not to pursue the matter any further.A simple review of the accident shows that Mrs Chitkara was walking in a cross walk, well within her rights. There was a Stop sign.

A white Ford Excursion, not a small vehicle by any standards, approached the intersection. The vehicle not only hit Mrs Chitkara, but also hit her so hard that she was immediately knocked down. The driver then ran over Mrs Chitkara twice, once with the front wheels and then with the rear tires on the driver side.

There was a witness included in the police report who stated that Mrs. Chitkara was well in the pedestrian crosswalk and even gestured the driver to stop, by raising her hand. The fact that she was hit by the driver side of the vehicle also indicates that Mrs Chitkara was well in the pedestrian's walkway before getting hit.

The witness also stated that the driver stopped after knocking Mrs Chitkara down and driving over her and came out of the vehicle saying that she "did not even see her". The driver admits to looking to her left (for traffic) and not paying attention to her right (for pedestrians).All this taken from the Police report itself points to the fact that Mrs Chitkara was totally run over by a grossly negligent driver. How is this not a crime? Even if not intentional, it is at least a case of negligent vehicular manslaughter.

Veena Chitkara's family and friends are deeply shocked and dismayed at both the police department as well as the District Attorney's office for dismissing this as only a minor infraction on the part of a driver who in fact, caused the death of an innocent pedestrian. Even basic investigative methods appear not to have been used by the police. When asked by Veena Chitkara's family if the police had checked to see if the driver was on the cell phone at the time of the accident, the police officer said "no", based on the driver telling him so.

No review of the driver's cell phone records was done. Similarly, there appears to be no check done of the driver's medical records to see if poor eyesight or medication contributed to the driver not seeing Veena Chitkara.Not only did Veena Chitkara's family and friends lose a dear friend, but they have also lost a lot of confidence in law enforcement's ability to stand up for the rights of pedestrians. They are inclined to wonder if this is not a case of racial bias. Would these two law enforcement agencies have concluded the same way, if the driver was an Asian Indian and the victim a Caucasian woman?