Evening Out Ends in Tragedy for 2 Preschool Teachers and Friends

The two young men, teachers at a nearby nursery school, had taken the two young women out for a quiet evening on the town.

Acquaintances say the four had gone to the Promenade in Santa Monica, probably eaten dinner and taken in a movie, and apparently were on their way home, northbound on 14th Street in a Honda sedan.

Heading west on Wilshire Boulevard in a Jeep Cherokee were two other young men who had spent the evening at the home of a friend in West Los Angeles. Police say the driver of the Jeep, Dariosh Sariri, had been drinking heavily.

According to witnesses, the Honda sedan entered the intersection of Wilshire and 14th on a green light. They say that a split second later, the Jeep, which apparently had been racing another vehicle, ran the red light on Wilshire, striking the Honda broadside with such force that the car was almost cut in two.

Four people died instantly--the three passengers in the Honda and the passenger in the Jeep. The Honda’s driver, still listed in extremely critical condition, has yet to regain consciousness. Only Sariri, the driver of the Jeep, walked away from the crash. Police say he was unscathed, except for some minor cuts and bruises.

Shortly after the accident, Sariri, a 24-year-old restaurateur who lives with his parents in Santa Monica, was booked on suspicion of murder and drunk driving.

Sgt. Bill Brucker, spokesman for the Santa Monica Police Department, said Monday that tests to determine the level of alcohol in Sariri’s system at the time of the crash have yet to be completed.

Those who died in the crash at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday have been identified as Jacob Shalomi, 23, of Venice, who was riding with Sariri, and Julie Dicks, 24, of Ladera Heights, and Santa Monica residents Robert Cash, 24, and Christopher Baker, 27, the passengers in the Honda.

The driver of the Honda, Lucille (Rita) Morgan, 25, of Los Angeles remained in the intensive care unit at Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center in Santa Monica on Monday night.

Brucker said Sariri “was going a lot faster than the 35-m.p.h. speed limit” when he ran the red light at 14th Street. The force of the impact flipped the Jeep onto its roof and tore the Honda almost in half, he said.

Despite the statements of witnesses and other evidence indicating he was at fault, Sariri has insisted that Morgan was to blame for the accident, Brucker said.

Friends said Monday that Morgan recently finished her training as a physical therapist.

Cash and Baker were teachers at the Neighborhood Nursery School in West Los Angeles.

Cash, a former Santa Monica City College student who had recently completed economics studies in Germany, worked at the school as a substitute teacher. Baker taught full time, and was well known to parents of the students.

“The kids always wanted to climb in his lap and have him read them stories,” said Alice Short, whose child attends the school. “He was a swell guy.”

“He was also a Little League coach, a nice guy who gave a lot to the community,” Brucker said. “How are we going to tell all those kids what happened?”