A Michigan man who fled the scene after striking a teenage girl on a longboard has been sentenced to jail time.
James Lawrence Shaheen, 40, pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident that left Gabriella Golden, then 18, paralyzed from the waist down. On the night of Oct. 22, 2024, Shaheen was driving his Mini Cooper when he hit Golden. Surveillance cameras captured both the crash and his car speeding away.
A passerby cruising through the neighborhood spotted Golden about five minutes later. She lay in the middle of the road, her face smeared with blood.
First responders arrived to hear Golden “screaming in pain.” Emergency personnel told police that she suffered critical injuries, including a severe spinal injury, a dislocated shoulder, and damage to her liver, spleen, and carotid artery.
A GoFundMe page launched by Golden’s family notes she “sustained a paralyzing injury” and entered a medically induced coma after the crash. WDIV later reported that she now uses a wheelchair, remains paralyzed from the waist down, and still has “deeply embedded shards of glass” in her skin as well as a piece of metal in her abdomen that doctors deemed too risky to remove.
On the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2024, Shaheen called the police and admitted he believed he had hit someone with his car. WDIV reported that the cadet who took the call recorded Shaheen’s statement: “last night he was involved in a crash in which he struck a pedestrian and fled the scene… he fled because he was scared but called because he wanted to do the right thing and turn himself in.”
Before reaching out to local authorities, Shaheen consulted a police chief from another department,a friend from the gym. That chief relayed a written statement to the Michigan State Police in which Shaheen said he “believed he may have hit someone on a skateboard… he was petting his dog when he crossed the center line and hit the skateboarder… he had a panic attack and fled the scene.”
When a state trooper arrived at Shaheen’s home, Shaheen escorted the officer to his Mini Cooper. He admitted that leaving the scene was wrong and added, “I didn’t want you guys to think you need to come hunt me down.” He expressed concern for Golden and asked about her condition.
The trooper and a sheriff’s deputy inspected the Mini Cooper and noted “obvious damage to the front end, windshield and roof.” The report described the windshield as “caved in,” with “three long strands of hair” visible, and blood stains on various parts of the vehicle.
Shaheen received a sentence of six months in jail and 18 months of probation on Oct. 8.
Leave a Reply