The leader of the California High-Speed Rail Authority will not be charged by prosecutors after being arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, but he is taking a brief departure from his day-to-day work after news of his arrest rocked Sacramento.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said that there was insufficient evidence to file charges against authority CEO Ian Choudri.
The backstory: Choudri, 57, was arrested on Feb. 4 on suspicion of domestic battery, with the victim being a juvenile.
- Lyudmyla Starostyuk, Choudri’s fiancée, was also arrested on suspicion of domestic battery and on suspicion of cruel or inhuman corporal punishment of a child.
Zoom in: Choudri has a daughter, although law enforcement has declined to state if she was the victim in question. Inside California Politics reported that police dispatch recordings point to Choudri’s daughter being the victim.
- A police dispatcher reported a girl said “her dad’s fiancée pulled her hair and pushed her,” according to Inside California Politics.
The big picture: The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it takes all allegations of domestic violence incredibly seriously, regardless of who the suspect is or what position the suspect holds in the community.
- State law instructs law enforcement to determine who the “dominant aggressor” is in domestic violence situations in order to make the appropriate arrest.
- “In this case, law enforcement arrested one male and one female. Officers did not see or note any injuries to either individual,” the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. “Since the evidence does not clearly demonstrate a ‘dominant aggressor’ we determined there was insufficient evidence to file charges to sustain our burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The other side: Allen Sawyer, Choudri’s attorney, told KCRA that the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office immediately declined to file charges when the Folsom Police Department forwarded an incident report.
- He told KCRA that the case is a “nothing burger.”
- “What I do know is there was an argument between family members of my client’s family,” Sawyer told KCRA.
More questions than answers: Asm. David Tangipa pointed out on X that Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, a Democrat, is running for Congress.
- “Wait… the Sacramento DA is running for Congress (Democrat), and now a domestic violence case involving the High-Speed Rail CEO (Largest publicly funded ‘infrastructure’ project and highly politicized’ is suddenly dismissed? I have more questions now than I did before,” Tangipa wrote.
Choudri takes leave: Tuesday night, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced Choudri would be taking a leave of absence.
- “While CEO Choudri has informed the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board that he is not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing, he has voluntarily agreed to take a temporary leave to allow the Board and our parent agency, the California State Transportation Agency, to fully review and assess the situation,” HSR spokesman Peter Whippy said.
- “We are taking this matter seriously, consistent with our longstanding commitment to public responsibility, transparency, and accountability. The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s work continues without interruption, and our priorities remain unchanged.”
