Vehicular assault case ends with no jail time:
Teen's uncle says friend's death was punishment enough

By David A. Grant
King County Journal
22NOV2006

A young Newcastle man involved in a high-speed car chase game resulting in a crash that killed his close friend was sentenced to 15 days of home detention, avoiding any jail time.

Sukhneet Singh Virk, who turned 19 in July, was sentenced Friday to 15 days of electronic home monitoring and another 30 days that were converted to community service.

It was near the middle of the sentencing range, which calls for one to three months of jail time.

He must also pay court costs, a $500 victim's fee, a $100 collection fee and yet-to-be determined restitution to victims of the crash.

In sentencing Virk, Judge William Downing said he was struck by the number of letters written on Virk's behalf and the impact the tragedy seems to have had on the teenager, resulting in a higher level of maturity.

"All of you know there is no going back to normal," Downing said. "This act is not one of malice or ill will but of immaturity and lack of responsibility."

He called it a "sad case" that illustrates the need to treat cars as dangerous, not as playthings.

In July, a jury acquitted Virk of vehicular homicide in the death of his close friend Rishi Sodhi, 16, but convicted him of vehicular assault.

The jury's verdict was bittersweet for more than 20 friends and relatives of Virk and members of the Eastside's close-knit Sikh community who sat through the three-day trial.

Several said that they pleased that Virk wasn't going to prison, but still grieved for Rishi.

Downing said Friday that the jury's decision, which was criticized at the time by Virk's attorney, was defensible and the result is fair.

Vehicular homicide carries a sentence of up to 3½ years in prison.

On Jan. 25, Virk was driving his 2006 Toyota Scion on Coal Creek Parkway in Factoria, playing a high-speed game of what Downing described as "cat and mouse" with Rishi, who was behind him, in his BMW.

Traveling at estimated speeds of 70-90 mph in a 40 mph zone, Rishi was killed when his car struck two oncoming cars and burst into flames.

Two other motorists were injured in the crash: Glen Dea, 38, who was hospitalized with fractures to his arm and foot, and a 75-year-old woman who suffered minor injuries.

Neither of the crash victims attended the sentencing. About 15 friends and family members came to the courtroom on Friday.

Downing chose a sentence toward the low end of the range, which called for one to three months of jail time and a $10,000 fine.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim had recommended two months of detention with 30 days converted to community service hours.

Virk's attorney, Tony Savage, urged a sentence at the low end of the range with electronic home monitoring. He noted that restitution will be high, given today's costs for hospital treatment.

Later Savage called Downing's sentence "fair and appropriate."

Asked if he wanted to comment before he was sentenced, Virk declined, but did respond to questions posed by Downing.

Dressed in a dark suit and turban, Virk was somber as he told Downing he is enrolled at Bellevue Community College and wants to complete his sentence as quickly as possible and "move on" with his life. He is interested in becoming a doctor or a lawyer.

"I miss him every day," Virk said of his friend, Rishi. "There are no words to say how great a person he was. He was a gifted individual."

After the sentencing, Sarbjit Singh Virk said his son has shown a "totally different personality" since the crash. Before, he was a typical teenager with no worries who liked to have fun. Now he's more serious, he listens to his parents and even corrects their driving.

"If I'm one mile over the speed limit he says to slow down," Sarbjit Singh Virk said.

Virk's uncle, Dalvinder Gill, repeated his contention that his nephew's only crime was speeding and the death of his friend is punishment enough.

"We've lost a good kid. Sukhneet will have a lifelong effect. He didn't deserve to be brought to trial in the first place," Gill said. "He (Virk) was in front. What the driver behind does, he has no control over. He's not responsible for that."