Throughout the week we’ve received notes from people living near the scene of the crash at 47th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Charlestown Street that knocked out power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses on January 9, wondering how the two people in the car were doing. Though they originally were described as having life-threatening injuries, we’ve since 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, remains at Harborview in satisfactory condition, but is now charged with vehicular assault as well as domestic violence.
According to the charging documents, the passenger was Nema’s 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 do say that Nema was speeding when he lost control of his Buick sedan, crossed a center line, and slammed broadside into a utility pole. The car was going so fast—described in the report as “freeway speeds”—that despite breaking the pole, Nema’s Buick continued another 50 feet before coming to a stop.
When police arrived, both Nema and his passenger were unconscious with injuries that a report says were consistent with a fractured pelvis. An open, mostly empty, bottle of tequila was found wedged between Nema and his door, but the results of a blood-alcohol test are still unknown.
According to online records, when Nema gets out of the hospital he will be booked into the King County Jail with bail set at $100,000. Court documents say he has a long 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.
