Citation in fatal crash angers victims' friends

The State Patrol has issued a $490 negligent-driving citation accusing Sarah Potts of speeding, talking on her cellphone and possibly tailgating when her SUV slammed into the back of a stalled car on Interstate 405, killing a family of four Bulgarian immigrants.

The outcome has enraged some community members, who say Potts deserved harsher punishment.

"It is totally outrageous," said Antoaneta Beeston of Duvall, speaking on behalf of a group of Seattle-area Bulgarians. "She gets only a fine, without a day of jail. People have gone to prison for a lot less. We feel betrayed."

King County prosecutors announced earlier this month they would not file criminal charges against Potts, the wife of a Bothell police officer, because there was no evidence of recklessness or disregard for the safety of others.

The State Patrol had recommended the Bothell resident be charged with four felony counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Fikret and Gulbahar Attila of Lynnwood and their two young daughters.

The case was returned to the State Patrol. On Tuesday, investigators issued the citation for negligent driving, which essentially means not paying attention while driving, State Patrol spokeswoman Monica Hunter said yesterday.

"That's as much as we have. That's the most severe ticket we can write," Hunter said.

Potts' attorney, Mark Vanderveen, yesterday said he wasn't surprised that the citation had been issued, but he continued to dispute the Patrol's version of events. Vanderveen maintains that his client was driving with the flow of traffic that night and was not on the phone at the time of the crash. But detectives say she was speeding and on the phone, Hunter said.

Vanderveen yesterday said, "I think if people knew everything about what happened, they'd feel differently. She (Potts) is a law-abiding citizen. She's had nightmares about this. It's been a terrible tragedy."

The Lynnwood family's car was stalled Aug. 10 when the 25-year-old Potts' SUV rear-ended it just after 6:20 p.m. The car was pushed across two lanes of traffic before it erupted in flames.

Fikret Attila, 40, was pulled from the burning car, but his 26-year-old wife and daughters, Seda, 4, and Eda, 2, didn't make it. The father died in the hospital 17 days later.

Attila relatives in Bulgaria and local friends recently hired Seattle attorney Bruce Harrell to pursue possible civil action, he said. "The Bulgarian community is up in arms, and they wanted to do something," Harrell said.

"It is a shameful disgrace that a family was killed by this woman and she gets the easy way out," said Beeston, who started a forum about the accident on a local Bulgarian Web site.

Beeston said the Bulgarian community believes the outcome might have been different if the Attilas' relatives had been here to pressure prosecutors. She hopes the family in Bulgaria somehow will be compensated.

Even local residents who didn't know the family have been touched by the deaths.

Gloria Livermore of Kenmore said she passes the accident site almost every day. The skid marks and burned grass still show.

"It is very disturbing," said Livermore, who called prosecutors after the decision not to file charges, to express her dismay.

"I cannot drive by without thinking of that family. It is such a horrid story, and everyone has been waiting for a penalty."

Some residents say they are looking forward to the next legislative session, when state Sen. Tracey Eide, D-Federal Way, said she again will introduce a bill that would ban behind-the-wheel use of hand-held cellphones.

Eide has sponsored such bills since 1998, but none has made it to the Senate floor.

New York was the first state to ban driving with hand-held phones. But as many as 40 states have discussed some kind of legislation targeting distracted drivers, according to the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Jack Webber, a North Bend City Council member, spent hours researching the issue of inattentive driving before his city passed an ordinance targeting distracted drivers. The council later repealed the law after pressure from city residents.

"Research shows that talking on the phone is a cognitive task," Webber said. "Doing more than one cognitive task definitely diverts a driver's attention."

Michael Ko contributed to this story. Leslie Fulbright: 206-515-5637 or lfulbright@seattletimes.com.