Drag Racing Alleged : Canyon Country Man to Stand Trial in Fatal Crash

A 20-year-old Canyon Country man was ordered Thursday to stand trial on vehicular manslaughter charges stemming from a crash that killed an 83-year-old woman and critically injured her husband of 46 years.

Steven Scott Lashlee allegedly was racing another car down Victory Boulevard in Reseda at 60 m.p.h. at 5 p.m. Feb. 26 when he slammed broadside into the passenger side of a car driven by Gerald Brackett, 78, of Reseda.

Brackett was critically injured. His wife, Doris, was killed instantly. Lashlee was treated at a local hospital for head and neck pains before being arrested by Los Angeles police.

After a preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Judge Robert H. Wallerstein ordered Lashlee to stand trial on one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of drugs and driving under the influence of drugs.

Lashlee also was ordered to stand trial on one count of perjury for allegedly having given false information to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a second driver’s license with a higher age under a false name.

Brackett, who has since recovered from the crash, repeatedly broke into tears as he described hearing the crash, receiving a blow on the head and looking over to see his wife mortally injured in the seat beside him.

When Brackett continued to cry, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lisa Kahn, who called him as a witness, did not pursue further questions.

Another prosecution witness, Walter Williams of Reseda, testified that Lashlee was driving his 1971 sports car “like a bat out of hell” westbound on Victory when he struck the Brackett car as it turned north onto Louise Avenue.

Two Los Angeles police drug-recognition experts who examined Lashlee the night of the crash testified that Lashlee appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

The driver of the other car kept going after the crash, Kahn said.

Lashlee’s attorney, Craig S. Robinson, contended that there was no proof Lashlee was under the influence of drugs and no evidence that he was at fault in the crash.

Wallerstein, who scheduled Lashlee’s arraignment on the charges for July 14, allowed Lashlee to remain free on his own recognizance on the condition that he not drive a vehicle.

If convicted, Lashlee could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, Kahn said.