FREMONT — A Sunnyvale man has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the May 3 death of a Tesla worker who was struck and killed by a vehicle while on a break outside the company’s Fremont factory, according to authorities and court records.
The suspect, Hung Vuu, 59, of Sunnyvale, was charged Wednesday in the death of Taniela Finau Hafoka, 26, of Oakland.
Vuu was initially being held in lieu of $150,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail, but a search of jail records Thursday did not show him in custody.
The collision happened about 11:30 p.m. May 3 in the 45000 block of Fremont Boulevard, outside the Tesla factory where Hafoka worked.
Hafoka, a father of three children whose wife was expecting their fourth child at the time of his death, was on a break with a co-worker.
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According to court documents, Hafoka was on the sidewalk when he was struck by a red Honda Accord that was driving southbound in the northbound lanes. His co-worker was able to avoid being hit.
Hafoka died at the scene.
The Honda continued on another 1,000 feet in the wrong direction, nearly hitting some other vehicles, before crashing into a pole on Fremont Boulevard near Interstate 880, court records say. Vuu was found inside the vehicle in the driver’s seat.
Police said there was an obvious odor of alcohol on Vuu’s breath and that he also displayed additional signs of intoxication.
Vuu was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries before being transferred to jail. His blood alcohol level at the time of the collision has not been released by authorities.