On the evening of August 8, 2025, four-year-old Ayden Fang was playing on the sidewalk outside Truffle Poké Bar on Donnelly Avenue in downtown Burlingame with a friend and the friend’s father nearby while his parents and younger brother sat a few feet away inside the restaurant. At approximately 6:20 p.m., a vehicle crashed onto the sidewalk where Ayden was playing, killing him.
Ayden Fang was a joyful child who loved reading, singing, painting, and spending time with his family and classmates.
This lawsuit alleges that immediately before the crash, nineteen-year-old Mari Abey was driving a Mazda compact SUV and attempting to exit Parking Lot D onto Donnelly Avenue. Abey’s view of oncoming traffic was obstructed by a large SUV legally parked at the driveway. Since the tragedy, the City of Burlingame now prohibits parking in that location. At the same time, an 11-year-old boy was traveling eastbound on Donnelly Avenue on a Class 2 electric bicycle while carrying his 10-year-old sister as a passenger. An 11-year-old driving an e-bike and having a passenger were both prohibited by the e-bike’s user manual.
According to the lawsuit, the e-bike collided with the rear driver’s side door of the SUV as Abey pulled into the street. After the collision, Abey accelerated across the roadway, over the curb, and onto the sidewalk, striking Ayden before crashing through the front of the restaurant. Ayden suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ayden’s parents, Xiaoming Fang and Ting Ting Liu, bring this wrongful death lawsuit alleging that the crash resulted from multiple preventable failures. The lawsuit names the City of Burlingame, the driver involved in the crash, the parents who owned and entrusted the SUV to her, and the parents who allegedly entrusted the motorized e-bike to the 11-year-old rider.
“This tragedy was preventable on multiple levels. Ignoring basic safety caused this result.”
– Niall P. McCarthy
"Our sincere hope in bringing this case is that we will make our community safer for other families.”
– Ming Fang, father of the victim
The lawsuit also alleges that the City of Burlingame created and failed to remedy a dangerous condition on public property. According to the complaint, a parking space located directly next to the driveway exiting Parking Lot D blocked drivers’ sightlines into oncoming traffic on Donnelly Avenue. The complaint alleges that the City had prior notice that the parking space created dangerous visibility conditions but did not remove it until after the fatal crash.
