Crime & Safety
Suspect Arrested In Death Of UC Berkeley Sociology Professor
Michael Burawoy was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street on Feb. 3.
OAKLAND, CA — Oakland police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a suspect in the hit-and-run death of renowned sociology professor Michael Burawoy.
Kermith Miller, 61, was arrested in Oakland and booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing death, according to court records.
He is being held without bail and scheduled for an arraignment on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Miller is suspected of hitting 77-year-old Burawoy while he was in a crosswalk at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Park View Terrace at about 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 3.
Paramedics responded to the scene and took Burawoy to a hospital, where the former professor at University of California, Berkeley was pronounced dead.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Burawoy "dedicated 47 years of his life to Berkeley, contributing immeasurably to the discipline, transforming the fields of labor, ethnography and theory," according to a social media post by Raka Ray, dean of UC Berkeley's Division of Social Sciences.
Ray said Burawoy was past president of the American Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association, the author of many scholarly books and a mentor and inspiration to thousands of students whose lives he changed with his "fierce intellect and kindness."
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