An Alameda County judge has allowed the family of paramedic Anmol-Kiran Kaur Bassi to pursue a lawsuit against Oakland over an officer’s handling of a suspected drunk driver shortly before she killed Bassi on I-880. The family alleges the officer let the driver leave after her car became stuck on railroad tracks in the Jack London District, without a field sobriety test or arrest.
The crash happened on November 29, 2025, according to The Oaklandside, which reported that Gianni Robinson was driving in Oakland's Jack London District toward an In-N-Out in Alameda with a friend when her car became stuck on railway tracks near Oak Street and 2nd Street. Robinson called 911, and Oakland police officers arrived and helped tow her car off the tracks, according to a CHP report cited by the outlet. Robinson was later transported to Highland Hospital with injuries from the freeway crash.
Bassi had been involved in a fender bender and had stopped in a highway lane, according to court records cited in the report. Satch Slavin, the deputy public defender representing Robinson, said his client was devastated and tried to avoid a disabled vehicle blocking the fast lane, adding that Bassi was standing on the shoulder when she was killed. The California Highway Patrol estimated Robinson was driving about 70 mph when her Chevrolet struck the scene, according to the Mercury News.
What Happened at the Railroad Tracks
In a CHP report summarizing Robinson’s interview, she said the Oakland officer told her he knew she was intoxicated and that she was lucky he was not arresting her for DUI. Court records say the officer did not give her a field sobriety test or arrest her. The officer told CHP he watched the car leave but could not recall who was driving. OPD told CHP there was no body-camera footage of the encounter, according to the report.
A CHP officer who later encountered Robinson reported immediately detecting the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath and person, along with red, watery eyes and slow, slurred speech, per the investigative report. Robinson's passenger told CHP that Robinson was drunk, according to police records, and the CHP report indicated her blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit. The Oakland officer, for his part, told CHP he observed no objective signs of alcohol intoxication during his interaction with Robinson and described her watery eyes as consistent with emotional crying, according to the same report.
Family Learned of the Officer's Decision Months Later
CHP spoke with the Oakland officer about the crash on December 12, 2025, and summarized the conversation in a report about a month later, The Oaklandside reported. The Bassi family’s attorney, Monica Burneikis, said CHP made repeated written requests to OPD for information over six weeks. The family learned of the alleged decision to let Robinson go when a CHP officer called them on May 11, 2026.
Bassi's family received the report documenting CHP's communications with OPD just a few days after Robinson was charged, per Burneikis, and later received additional CHP records on June 16, 2026. Attorney Ryan Richardson wrote in a court filing that CHP knew OPD had helped move Robinson's car off the railroad tracks within days of the crash.
A Late Claim and a Judge's Ruling
The family submitted a claim against Oakland on June 9, 2026, about two weeks after the state’s six-month deadline. The city rejected the late claim, prompting the family to ask a state judge to let its lawsuit proceed. Burneikis argued the information needed to file sooner was not readily available to the grieving parents and said courts rarely grant late-claim applications.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Eagle Weathers allowed the family to pursue its lawsuit against Oakland. Burneikis said the family would likely file within 30 days. Its claim argues that OPD took on a duty of care when officers responded at the railroad tracks, and alleges they failed to take reasonable steps before Robinson returned to the road. The claim lists possible measures including a sobriety test, impounding the car, calling a sober driver, issuing a citation or detaining Robinson for further evaluation.
Officer's Status and Robinson's Pending Case
OPD said the officer involved was placed on administrative leave, stripped of his police powers, and is pending termination, though the department declined to state when those steps were taken. The Oakland City Attorney's office declined an interview request and referred the newsroom to court filings, the outlet reported.
Robinson was arrested and later charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence. She has pleaded not guilty and has a pretrial hearing scheduled for December 14. The case comes amid concerns about other Oakland officers facing DUI allegations: Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price previously announced DUI charges against two officers and described on-duty DUI cases as an alarming trend within the department, according to KQED.
A Separate On-Duty DUI Allegation
The Oaklandside reported that on June 30, 2023, CHP officers were called to OPD headquarters in downtown Oakland to evaluate officer Nathaniel Walker for suspected DUI while he was working a patrol shift. That was a separate incident involving allegations about an officer’s own driving, not an officer’s response to a civilian driver.
