The West Portal crash that killed a family of four has resulted in probation for the driver. Mary Fong Lau, 80, who two years ago struck and killed two parents and their two children at a West Portal bus stop, was sentenced Friday to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service. She will serve no prison time. The six days she spent in custody after her arrest have been credited. Judge Bruce Chan of San Francisco Superior Court handed down the sentence on March 21.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins called the sentence unjust. A petition demanding harsher punishment gathered more than 12,000 signatures. The night before sentencing, a memorial vigil was held near the West Portal Library, steps from the crash site — attended by relatives of the victims, police officers, firefighters and Walk SF activists.
What happened on March 16, 2024
On a Saturday afternoon, a family of four was waiting at a bus stop on Ulloa Street for a ride to the San Francisco Zoo. Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, his wife Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, 38, their 1-year-old son Joaquin, and their 3-month-old son Cauê stood at the stop in front of the West Portal Library.
A 2014 Mercedes GLK driven by Lau — then 78 — accelerated to 75 mph, three times the posted speed limit on a residential street. The SUV jumped the curb, slammed into the library building and struck the family at the stop.
Diego and 1-year-old Joaquin died at the scene. Matilde died shortly afterward at the hospital.
Three-month-old Cauê was placed on life support. Both his parents were already dead. The decision to remove him from life support fell to his grandmothers — Diego’s mother and Matilde’s mother. They agreed, and the infant’s organs were donated to other children.
Police found no mechanical defects in the vehicle. Lau was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. According to her attorney, Seth Morris, she told a bystander after the crash that she had confused the gas and brake pedals. Neither investigators nor the defense could explain how the car reached that speed in the short distance between two stop signs just hundreds of feet apart.
The sentence
Lau entered no-contest pleas to four counts of felony vehicular manslaughter. Judge Chan cited her age, clean record and expressed remorse in handing down the sentence.
The terms: two years of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a three-year license revocation. After three years, Lau would technically be eligible to apply for reinstatement. Her attorney said she has no intention of ever getting behind the wheel again.
Restitution to the victims’ families will range from $67,400 to $300,000; the court will set the final amount at a later hearing.
It was the first time in two years that Lau had spoken directly to the victims’ families in court. She stood and offered an apology. According to relatives, she had never once looked them in the eye before that moment.
Reaction
DA Brooke Jenkins said the sentence failed to match the gravity of what happened. She said the judge substituted his own judgment for the system’s. Jenkins had pushed for house arrest, lifetime license revocation and a plea change from no contest to guilty.
Lau’s attorney Seth Morris argued that the no-contest plea spared the families years of uncertain litigation. His client, he said, is deeply remorseful.
Denise Oliveira, Diego’s sister, addressed the judge on behalf of the family. She said that for two years, they had not felt heard, seen, or respected.
Maria Ana Moncara, 73, Matilde’s mother, flew in from Portugal for the hearing. She wore four black ribbons on her jacket — one for each person who died.
Hidden assets
The sentencing is not the only legal matter hanging over Lau. The victims’ families filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit — and separately, a second suit under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act.
According to court filings, in August 2024 — five months after the crash and two months after the civil suit was filed — Lau transferred three San Francisco properties into two newly formed Nevada LLCs: Sterling Haven Management and Desert Canyon Ventures. The properties included homes on Crestlake Drive and Pixley Street and a commercial building on Mission Street, each valued at more than $1 million. The transfers were recorded one day before her attorneys filed a motion to stay the civil case.
Attorneys for the families called the transfers a deliberate scheme to shield assets from potential judgments. Lau’s attorney insists the restructuring was recommended by financial advisors and was not intended to evade compensation. The court has not yet ruled on that lawsuit.
West Portal after the verdict
The city has since redesigned the intersection. Lenox Street was converted to one-way traffic, and barriers and crosswalk markings were added. Shelby Ash, who has owned The Music Store on West Portal Avenue for 27 years, says the new markings have only confused drivers. He called the sentence a mockery: four people dead, and no real punishment.
Susan Lakatos, 73, of Lakeshore, tried to find some balance. For the family, this isn’t justice, she said — but added that accidents happen, and this one was just especially devastating.
The day after the sentence, photographs of Cauê, Joaquin, Diego and Matilde hung on the library wall. Right where the bus stop used to be.