Oakland mother of 6 suffers broken back after speeding driver slams into her truck

OAKLAND, Calif. - A speeding driver rammed into a mother of six and into the bedroom of an apartment unit in Oakland on New Year's morning, sending shockwaves through the neighborhood where residents can't seem to shake the trauma.

Rebecca Washam, 42, told KTVU on Friday that she is still suffering from bruises and broken vertebrae stemming from when she was hit on Jan. 1 at 6 a.m. at the corner of Bancroft and 84th avenues as she was taking her eldest child – her 18-year-old son – to work as a waiter at the Waterfront Café in Jack London Square. 

"As I made the left turn, I saw a vehicle coming at a high rate of speed," Washam said. "And next thing you know, my car was flipping and I ended up landing on the driver's side." 

Oakland police confirmed there was a collision between two cars that morning but did not say much more, though they did confirm to KTVU that no one has been arrested. 

But Washam's account was confirmed by a neighbor named Ra, who is the block captain and advocate for the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council and another neighbor, Lisa Smith, who said that the suspect vehicle also slammed into her bedroom unit. 

All three neighbors said that they saw the male driver and a passenger in the suspect's red vehicle being taken out of the car with jaws of life and then to the hospital. 

Washam said that the account she has been told by neighbors and witnesses was that the driver had possibly been drunk and fleeing a sideshow in the area. Witnesses told Washam that they saw alcohol and guns also being taken out of the car. 

Washam estimated that the driver was driving at speeds of 100 mph when he hit her in her Chevy Tahoe, which is now totaled.

Rebecca Washam's Tahoe was flipped over by a fleeing driver on Jan. 1, 2024 in Oakland. Photo: Neighbor

Oakland police did note there was a sideshow at 42nd Avenue and International Boulevard on New Year's where a 23-year-old woman from Stockton was killed.

Ra, who asked that their full name not be used, said the Bancroft-84th area is full of "sideshows and gunfire all the time. There was activity the whole night and morning." 

Ra woke up that morning to the sound of a huge crash.

"I knew something was really wrong," Ra said. "We all ran out." 

Ra began taking pictures and videos to document what had happened, including how the suspect's car had also slammed into Smith's unit, shattering her bedroom windows. Luckily, Smith was not there at the time.

This is the second time that a car has slammed into Smith's apartment. A few years ago, a van driver drove into her living room. 

Twelve days later, Smith said that the Oakland Housing Authority has not yet fixed the barriers which were knocked down and the debris from the crash has not yet been swept away or removed. The windows that were broken have still not been replaced. 

The driver of a car crashed at 84th and Bancroft avenues in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2024. Photo: Neighbor 

Smith said that she's having trouble sleeping and still feels traumatized by the event. 

"There was glass all over the bed," Smith said. "They're not worried about safety over here."

Smith said she filed several emergency orders to be given new housing, to no avail. 

"At this point," Smith said, "I just need to move." 

As for Washam, she doesn't know how she is going to get around without her truck. 

"It's my only mode of transportation," Washam said. "It was totaled in the accident. Multiple pieces from my truck ended up flying in my neighbor's window. I ended up landing on the driver's side right outside my neighbor's house. And that's not the first time there's been accidents at this intersection. Cars have actually ended up in my neighbor's house, so my neighbor is suffering as well."

Washam's children attend online school through Sojourner Truth Independent Study, but she's had to ask friends for rides to the grocery store and could use help in buying a new car. 

She used to work at Kaiser but has been on disability since 2021 because of a previous back injury accident. Her children are 18, 16, 15, 9, 6 and 4. 

"It's pretty much turned my life upside down," she said of the crash. 

Washam said she's only able to get through the pain and suffering because of her children. 

"My kids love me very much," she said. "Actually, this was very traumatizing for them because it happened outside my house. They heard it and they came outside and were screaming, thinking, you know, that I was deceased in the accident. But I had to reassure them I was OK." 

 IF YOU'RE INTERESTED in helping Washam, click here. 

 Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez