Followup: Passenger from West Seattle crash out of the hospital; driver charged

(Seattle Police investigators with the wrecked Buick on Sunday morning – rescuers had cut its top off)
Throughout the week, we’ve received notes from people living near the scene of the 47th/Charlestown crash that led to a major power outage early Sunday (original WSB coverage here), wondering how the two people in the car were doing. Though they originally were described as having life-threatening injuries, we have just learned from Harborview Medical Center that the passenger, a 31-year-old woman whose hometown is not listed in the police report, is out of the hospital. The driver, 23-year-old Mohammad Nema of Burien, is still at Harborview but is now in satisfactory condition – and he is charged with vehicular assault as well as domestic violence. According to the charging documents, the passenger was his estranged girlfriend, who had two protection orders against him linked to an assault allegation in early December. The charging papers don’t say why she was with him on Sunday morning, but they say:

… the defendant was speeding well in excess of the posted speed limit. He failed to maintain control of his car and crossed the centerline and began rotating clockwise as he skidded 133 feet. He then left the road and slammed broadside into a utility pole. The force was sufficient to break the pole which caused a power outage in the neighborhood. There was enough energy left to propel his car an additional 52 feet until the car eventually came to a stop. Both the defendant and (passenger) were unconscious. Both suffered at least fractured pelvises. …

A bottle of open, mostly empty tequila was found wedged between the defendant and his driver’s door. Blood alcohol results for him are pending. Preliminary collision reconstruction shows he was speeding at least 48 mph and that does not even take into consideration the energy to break the pole. The analysis indicates he was traveling freeway speeds when he lost control.

When Nema gets out of the hospital, he will be booked into the King County Jail, with bail set at $100,000, according to online records. Court documents say he has a record of citations and charges including driving the wrong way on a one-way street, possessing an open alcohol container in a car, speeding, and driving without liability insurance.

calvin perkins January 14, 2011 (2:55 pm)

when i was younger me and two other freinds and one freinds mom and freind who all live in a two block radius of this hill where stopped at the stop sighn at the bottom when a stolen car jumped the hill doing ove 80 it the landed on top of the van we were in and broke freinds moms back sent my other freind out the back window wedged my leg under a seat after my head went thru a side window two of the ppl in the car that hit us died on at the seen and one at harborveiw

ElevenTruckmen January 14, 2011 (3:18 pm)

I have friends that I work with who remember that accident.

calvin perkins January 14, 2011 (3:48 pm)

ya it was all bad

funkietoo January 14, 2011 (3:56 pm)

Glad both individuals survived. Chilling example of domestic violence.

Calvin…glad all of you in the van are alive to talk about this horrible accident. Our whole neighborhood remembers this accident (we live at the top of the hill). We sent a petition, signed by 50+ neighbors, which requested a few inexpensive, possibly life saving traffic revisions, to the City of Seattle. Our petition even included an offer by some of us to assist with the costs of such revisions. We NEVER recevied a reply back (yes…we made follow up phone calls).

We had heard that people in the stolen car had died, but were never able to confirm how many. Sad. Very sad. At the same time, they made a choice to drink, steal a car, and jump the hill–and paid the expensive consequences. Know that sounds cold.

argiles January 14, 2011 (4:07 pm)

When the original story first posted, I tried to not jump to conclusions. Everything that had been said about it and the pictures pointed to the obvious but trying not to blame someone for it was what I was going for. That is absolutely ridiculous and reckless. I am thankful that no one else was hurt in that crash, had it been at a different time in the morning or afternoon it could have ended much worse. In my honest opinion he deserves everything that he has coming towards him (injury and such) along with the passenger who should have not been with him to begin with, with 2 orders of protection. She should have called the police and what not. I hope she sure has a good reason as to why she was with him and didn’t try to stop him. Plus might as well through her into jail as well, couldn’t she technically be charged with like aiding him since she decided to get into a car with him with open alcohol. Remember this is all my opinion. Yes I am harsh for punishment when it is deserved

Carrie P January 14, 2011 (4:20 pm)

Argiles, in DV incidents it is very common for the victim to be forced into a car or other situation. He may have had a weapon or used some other type of threat to get her in the car. It happens everyday.

marty January 14, 2011 (4:27 pm)

Jail? I guess that means it will be awhile before he gets to drive his new “convertible”!!

lenguamor January 14, 2011 (4:37 pm)

Sentencing guidelines in WA are much, MUCH too lenient, not helped one bit by cowardly and lazy Prosecutors taking the easy way out by giving out plea deals even when they have winnable cases.
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But two areas in particular that NEED more vigorous prosecution and harsher sentencing are domestic violence and DUI/open container violations. Both are areas in which violators seem undeterred from recidivism by current enforcement and punishment standards.

doggril January 14, 2011 (6:27 pm)

lenguamor – Do you have any facts to back up your claim that prosecutors are lazy and cowardly? Do you know what their average caseload is? I’m betting you’ve not bothered to look up any facts before posting that opinion–on an anonymous board, no less.
Ironic, seems to me.

lenguamor January 14, 2011 (6:38 pm)

Yeah, doggril – it was a study done at THE UNIVERSITY OF MY EYES.
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Because empirical proof IS a prerequisite of having an opinion based on observation, using common sense. Of course.

Baba January 14, 2011 (6:46 pm)

Yeah, marty, jaws of life limited edition! :-)

austin January 14, 2011 (6:48 pm)

The most unfortunate thing about this sort of thing is that it’s way too common – Someone who shouldn’t be allowed to operate this type of heavy machinery does so irresponsibly and causes property damage and injury / loss of life. Automobiles are considered a necessary evil and this is the result. The entire culture and point of view surrounding the concept of driving as a right is complicit.

Ernie McCracken January 14, 2011 (7:20 pm)

UNIVERSITY OF MY EYES!

Ernie McCracken January 14, 2011 (8:00 pm)

Dear WSB and readers:

I apologize for being nasty, at times. I am somewhat bothered at those that always point the finger at “cowardly prosecutors” or some other government person or agency, blaming them for the ills of society.

I recognize that this sometimes causes my blood to boil.

I promise that this is the last post I will make on the West Seattle Blog! So, please, don’t delete my last post. Thanks!

35this35mph January 14, 2011 (8:30 pm)

I would echo Carrie P’s reminder that we know nothing about how the passenger wound up in the car, including whether it was voluntary or not. Orders of protection are of limited utility if the target of the order is willing to risk the consequences.

Alki Resident January 14, 2011 (10:03 pm)

35th-a protection order is filed so when the abuser is within a certain distance,they will be arrested ,otherwise normally they’d have free rein of any city street.The order won’t prevent “consequences”for say that the abuser will still try something to harm the victim but at least it’s in place so the law can legally hold the attacker responsible for his actions.

sgs January 14, 2011 (10:11 pm)

UNIVERSITY OF MY EYES!!!!! I’ll have to use that one every once in a while…with your permission, of course! good one.

B Czyk January 14, 2011 (11:18 pm)

Sad situation and fortunately one that was not worse, like what Calvin described. I think there should be some thresholds for zero tolerance policies, in cases like this, where there is almost no plausable reason this was just an error in judgement – especially since it sounds like this guy has already had open alcohol violations in the past – real winner!

So with respect to the University of My Eyes comment – I found that pretty entertaining too. However, my experience is that many people from that University are often near-sighted.

35this35mph January 15, 2011 (11:20 am)

I didn’t mean to suggest that orders of protection are worthles; I said they are of limited utlity. They have a deterrent effect. I guess my concern was that in this case someone saw the fact that two orders were in place as a platform for blaming the victim. As if they were a guarantee against further victimization unless the victim willfully participated. I learned that this is a fallacy at the University of My Eyes!

amy January 15, 2011 (11:23 pm)

agriles –

you have never been exposed to domestic violence, have you? Yet have the gall to blame her as a passenger and put her at fault? Do you not understand the threat she is in 24/7? you should be ashamed for blaming her. not fair, not right, and pray that you and your family will never live in the shadow of domestic violence. it’s strikes all. those you would never expect, and i speak that from experience.

argiles January 16, 2011 (10:30 am)

Ok, my orginal post is not meant to put all the blame on the victim, I apologize to any that I offended or made uncomfortable. The guy is totally to blame. I’m one of those that carry my cell on my religiously and would have done my best to at least call for help even if I couldn’t talk or even try to get outta the car. Since we dont know what the deal is or what went on lets say she got into the car on her own will knowing how he is, well then that turns the whole game around.

And Amy you are right I really haven’t been exposed to domestic violence and if I knew anyone who was a victim it was never put out there on the table.

ONCE AGAIN MY OPINION! I didn’t say that you all have to like it or hate it. This is a comment section.

redblack January 16, 2011 (2:44 pm)

well, if the driver had two protection orders against him and the passenger was there against her will, it sounds like attempted kidnapping should be added to this guy’s jacket.
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i understand i don’t know all of the facts, but if the police report and allegations are true, he should have the book thrown at him.
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and isn’t destruction of public property a crime? i think that one’s pretty easy to prove here, thanks to WSB and alert neighbors.

WSB January 16, 2011 (3:05 pm)

To reiterate what I wrote in this story:
The court/charging documents, as available when I wrote it, do NOT say, nor even hint at, how she wound up in the car – willingly or unwillingly. There is absolutely nothing regarding where they were or what they were doing prior to them and the car crashing. Not that it matters aside from the issue redblack raises of whether additional charges might be warranted … the second charge against Nema alleges that he willfully violated the court order. By the time he is arraigned – which apparently will depend on when he leaves the hospital — perhaps more will emerge, but for now the official record of that night’s events deals only with the car appearing at 47th and Charlestown “at freeway speeds,” slamming into the pole, while mentioning that the most recent order had been obtained one month earlier, after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her. (Details of that are not available in court records.) – TR

tincanrocket January 16, 2011 (3:48 pm)

Regardless of what the surrounding story is of the 2 occupants of the vehicle, I am glad 2 lives are spared.

Looking forward – I would like to see some additional effort and thought put into this hill/intersection. I think we can do better as far as the overall safety and creating deterrents goes for the few that decide to go “Supah-Fly” style over the hill.

redblack January 16, 2011 (6:35 pm)

i should have worded my post better. the police report mentions an empty bottle of tequila, which would impair anyone regardless of its volume. but i understand that the report only implicates him for having an open container. add irresponsible driving and snapping a utility pole, IMHO, the driver went beyond stupid at at least 48 mph; caused service disruption for thousands; and caused the city and comcast to have to show up on sunday – with a new pole – and most likely for overtime pay.
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“i don’t understand all the facts,” referred to the mostly-empty tequila bottle, which implies the driver was spectacularly drunk, but doesn’t prove or state it.
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i didn’t mean to say that the police report implied that the passenger was there against her will or that she was a victim of attempted kidnapping, but only that it was a possibility that she didn’t get into the car willingly. it’s a stretch – for me – to think that someone would bother to file 2 restraining orders, then voluntarily get in the car with that person; but as others have pointed out, we never know until we walk in the victim’s shoes.

A January 17, 2011 (2:29 pm)

It seems like Charlestown should be made a One-Way street such that you can only drive up the hill, but not down the hill, and then to eliminate the possibility all together, add a traffic circle of some sort at the top of the hill, so that you cannot drive ‘straight over’ the top just in case someone had the urge to ignore the One-Way sign for a cheap (and possibly fatal) thrill of jumping over the top.
It will be safer for sledders when it snows too!