Minor negligence citations are issued in fatal van crash

Associated Press

SPOKANE — Minor negligent driving citations were issued Friday to the drivers of two vans that crashed near Ritzville last year, killing two members of a Chinese dance troupe.

The state Attorney General’s Office decided against filing felony charges against the drivers, brothers Li Hengda and Li Hengbin.

"There was no evidence of a high degree of recklessness," said Chris Jarvis, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office. "Speed alone is insufficient to indicate an egregious level."

The brothers and 34 members of the Beijing Dance Academy were traveling last Feb. 16 in a caravan of three rented vans going from Spokane to Portland for a performance.

Li Hengbin was identified by the Washington State Patrol as the driver of the van that flipped on icy U.S. 395 south of Ritzville, ejecting and killing two people.

A van driven by Li Hengda, of Mukilteo, also overturned. The third van remained upright.

Jia Shuli, 17, and Gong Xiang, 16, died when they were thrown from the van Li Hengbin was driving. A third passenger in that van, Tao Yong, 17, was badly injured with a broken jaw and shattered leg. He recently recovered sufficiently from his injuries to leave Spokane and return home.

Several other dancers in the troupe, who had performed the night before in Spokane, were less seriously injured.

Li Hengbin returned to China in April because his temporary visa had expired.

Jarvis did not know if he had returned.

Second-degree negligent driving is a noncriminal infraction that carries a maximum $250 penalty and the possibility of additional driver training.

Attorneys had considered filing felony vehicular homicide and vehicular assault charges, but assistant attorney general Brian Moran decided the state could not provide the high level of proof required in a criminal case.

Witnesses reported the vans were going 80 mph in a snowstorm on roads with posted speed limits of no more than 70 mph. But the reliability of those reports was questioned by Brad Fulton, a lawyer assisting the Li brothers.

The Attorney General’s Office reviewed the case at the request of the Adams County prosecutor’s office.

The Chinese dance troupe was brought to the United States under the auspices of Li Hengda, a Chinese dancer who immigrated here in 1990. For six years, he was a soloist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, then opened his own dance academy.

Through his efforts, members of the Beijing academy were granted visas to perform in this country during a planned three-week West Coast tour.

Reached by phone Friday in Seattle, Li Hengda said his English was not very good and declined to comment.

Moran, in a letter to the Adams County prosecutor explaining his decision, said interviews of the victims were not conducted at the scene because of injuries and language barriers. Most of the passengers returned to China before police could contact them.

The critically injured passenger from Li Hengbin’s van, Tao Yong, was interviewed with the aid of an interpreter, Moran wrote.

The young dancer told police he was sitting behind the driver and was sleeping when he heard Li Hengbin say something like, "Oh my gosh, we’re finished," or something similar, Moran wrote.

Moran also wrote that some of the passengers were not wearing seat belts, which contributed to their injuries.

Also, the rented passenger vans were a model that had recently been reported to have high roll rates compared with other vehicles.

The vans were equipped with summer tires, rather than all-season or winter tires, Moran wrote.