Fahrerflucht / hit and run - Ryan Dallas Cook the victim

Fahrerflucht ist etwas, dass leider Gottes jeden Tag ueberall auf der Welt geschieht. Wir nehmen es zur Kenntnis, sind geschockt, vergessen es aber meist schnell wieder, weil wir nicht direkt betroffen sind.
Bitte lest die unten angehaengten Artikel und ihr versteht, warum ich so sauer bin! Warum passiert so etwas?
2005 starb der Sohn meiner Kollegin Janet auf diese tragische Weise. Mit Hilfe seines Arbeitgebers konnte der Unfallverursacher das Land verlassen und wurde erst vor einigen Wochen in seiner Heimat verhaftet. Heute nun ist der Tag, an dem er in die USA zurueckgebracht wird und er seinen Prozess erhalten wird..
Ryan Dallas Cooks Eltern klagen die Hyunday Motor America an, dem Moerder ihres Sohnes die Flucht ermoeglicht zu haben.

Hit and run is something that happens all around the world every single day. We hear about it, we are shocked, but we also forget real quick because it does not touch us directly.2005 the son of my coworker Janet died this tragic death. With the help of his company the accused left the country. A few weeks ago they caught him in his country. He will be arriving today and the court proceedings start on Monday.Ryan Dallas Cooks parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America, alleging that company officials helped Lee leave the country before he could be questioned by police.Please read the articles attached so you will understand why I am so pissed! How could this happen?

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1/30/2009 Orange County, CA

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Press Releases/Media Advisories Printer Friendly « Back Orange County District Attorney Press Release Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney 401 Civic Center Drive West Santa Ana, CA 92701 For Immediate Release Case # 07CF1356 January 29, 2009 Contacts: Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 SOUTH KOREAN FUGITIVE TO BE EXTRADITED AND ARRAIGNED FOR KILLING 23-YEAR-OLD MOTORCYCLIST IN 2005 ALCOHOL RELATED FREEWAY CRASH SANTA ANA – A fugitive charged with killing a motorcyclist in a 2005 freeway crash while under the influence of alcohol will be extradited to Orange County tomorrow after being arrested in South Korea. Youn Bum Lee, 42, formerly of Irvine, is charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated, one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter, one felony count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, and one felony count of hit and run causing death. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison if convicted on all counts. Lee was arrested on a $1 million warrant. Lee is being extradited from Seoul, South Korea and is expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 30, 2009, at 3:15 p.m. on Delta Airlines flight #7879. He will be escorted by the United States Marshals Service. Lee is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55 or C-57, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. At approximately 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2005, Lee is accused of attending a company sponsored dinner at Seoul Oak Korean BBQ Restaurant in Garden Grove with six other co-workers from Hyundai Motor America. The group consumed 14 bottles of soju, a distilled Korean rice wine, before going to a nearby karaoke bar, 25 SI, on Garden Grove Boulevard. Lee is accused of consuming more alcoholic drinks at the karaoke bar before getting into his black company issued Hyundai sport utility vehicle at approximately 12:05 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2005. While under the influence of alcohol, Lee is accused of driving with his headlights off on from State Route 22 onto State Route 55 heading southbound. The defendant is accused of veering into the carpool lane and crashing into the center median due to intoxication. Lee’s car rolled backwards and came to a stop in the carpool lane south of Dyer Road in Santa Ana. Victim Ryan Dallas Cook, 23, Fountain Valley, was riding his motorcycle in the carpool lane on his way home. Cook was unable to stop in time to avoid crashing into Lee’s black, unlit car. The victim, a student at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, was ejected from his motorcycle and thrown onto the freeway, where he was run over by several other vehicles. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of multiple traumatic injuries due to blunt force vehicle trauma. Lee is accused of fleeing the scene at a high rate of speed. Later that morning, on Oct. 19, 2005, Lee is accused of arriving at work at Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley. He is accused of parking his car front-in in the parking lot, but returning five minutes later to move his car and back into the parking space. He is accused of attempting to hide the evidence from the crash, including a shattered back windshield and blood, hair, and other human tissue from the victim. That morning, Lee is accused of consulting with a co-worker, whom he had been drinking with the night before, as well as with general counsel at Hyundai Motor America. The co-worker and a supervisor drove Lee to LAX that afternoon. At 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2005, just 24 hours after Cook was killed, Lee is accused of boarding a flight on Korean Air to Seoul, South Korea, leaving his wife and young child behind. The case was investigated by the California Highway Patrol, and was filed by the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Office in April 2007. In September 2008, the OCDA submitted a request for extradition. Lee was arrested on the fugitive warrant in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 2, 2008, by South Korean authorities. Deputy District Attorney Susan Price of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case. ###

Office of the District Attorney. Main Office: 401 Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana, California 92701 ©Copyright 2009 Office of the District Attorney. All Rights Reserved.

Artikel LA Times Online / 30. Januar 2009
Articel LA Times online / 01/30/2009

Former Hyundai executive extradited in 2005 hit-run death

Yuon Bum Lee fled to South Korea after the crash on the 55 Freeway that caused the death of motorcyclist Ryan Cook, authorities say. Lee could face 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

By My-Thuan Tran
8:16 PM PST, January 30, 2009

Ryan Dallas Cook was homeward bound on his motorcycle on an October night in 2005 when he clipped a stalled, darkened SUV that had rammed into a concrete barrier on the 55 Freeway, a collision that hurled him to the pavement, where he was hit by several passing cars and died.
Police said the driver of the SUV was a Hyundai executive who had allegedly spent a long night drinking before hitting the road.

Twenty-four hours later -- as Cook's parents and three sisters were just beginning to search for answers to the death of the 23-year old musician -- authorities said the SUV driver boarded a plane bound for his native South Korea and vanished.
For three years, officials in the United States and South Korea looked for him.
On Friday, Yuon Bum Lee, 41, was extradited to Orange County after being arrested by South Korea officials in Seoul in December. He arrived at Los Angeles International Airport escorted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Lee, who is being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $1-million bail, faces charges of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with injury, and hit-and-run with injury or death, said Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office.
"It's been a long, laborious process over the last three years to get to where we should have been the day after Ryan was killed," said Carlton Cook, the victim's father. "It won't bring back our son, but at least it will finish off something that should have been started a long time ago."
Cook said the family will be in court Monday, when Lee is to be arraigned. If convicted on all counts, Lee faces a maximum of 15 years in state prison.
Lee, a former personnel administrator at Hyundai Motor America, had been drinking with six colleagues at the Garden Grove Korean BBQ restaurant in October 2005, according to authorities. Police said the group later moved to a nearby karaoke bar, where Lee continued to drink before getting into a black company-issued Hyundai SUV just before midnight.
He later crashed into a concrete barrier in the southbound lanes of the 55 just north of MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana as he was heading to his Irvine home. The car was reportedly stalled in the carpool lane with its headlights extinguished.
Cook was heading home after practicing with his band when he struck the rear of the SUV and was thrown from his motorcycle.
The next morning, authorities said, Lee showed up for work and later headed with colleagues to Los Angeles so he could meet with a criminal attorney. Lee later asked a colleague who was driving to drop him off at LAX, according to police statements. Instead, uncomfortable with Lee's request, the driver told authorities that he pulled into a parking lot of a hotel near the airport, where Lee jumped out and hailed a cab.
Lee bought an open-ended ticket to South Korea and boarded a plane. Nine hours later, a vice president of human resources for Hyundai at the firm's Fountain Valley headquarters reported the incident to the Fountain Valley Police Department. Lee was later fired from his job.
Cook's parents, who live in Huntington Beach, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America, alleging that company officials helped Lee leave the country before he could be questioned by police. The civil trial is set to begin in June, said Wylie A. Aitken, the Cooks' attorney.
Hyundai America did not return calls seeking comment on the case, but officials have previously said the company had been cooperative throughout the investigation and had helped authorities search for Lee.