March 2005. Friends and family of the University of California, Berkeley graduate student who went into a coma after his car was hit during a police pursuit in Berkeley on Thursday will hold a news conference Wednesday.

"We would like to tell the media what happened to Jie Wang, what is his condition now, what we are wondering, what we expect from the press departments and the public," said Bo Dai, president of the Berkeley Chinese Students and Scholars Association and news conference organizer.

Jie Wang, 24, suffered major injuries after a 29-year-old man ran his 1996 Honda Civic into Wang's 1995 Ford Aspire at the intersection of Ashby and San Pablo avenues on Thursday. The driver of the Honda was allegedly fleeing the Albany Police Department after refusing to pull over for officers.

Wang, a graduate student in the university's chemistry department, was transported to Highland Hospital. He suffered serious brain trauma and is in a deep coma, said Dai.

Dai said that aside from telling Wang's story, the purpose of the news conference is to address the public safety issues raised by the accident.

In March 2001, Lyle Eric Norbert struck and killed 33-year-old Theodore Resnick at the intersection of Ashby and San Pablo avenues. California Highway Patrol officers were pursuing Norbert after he refused to stop for officers in El Cerrito.

"This is a social issue relating to public safety," said Dai. "It is not an accident only. We would like to have an acceptable conclusion of this case and this accident."