LA mom mowed down by teen driver blasts DA Gascon over soft sentence
A furious Los Angeles mom who was mowed down with her baby by a hit-and-run teen driver has lashed out at soft-on-crime District Attorney George Gascon after the perp was given just five months probation.
The mother, only identified as Rachel, took aim at LA’s top prosecutor in a scathing victim impact statement after the 16-year-old driver was ordered to participate in a diversionary program over the August 2021 incident, Fox News reported Friday.
“George Gascon doesn’t value my life or the life of my child, or any other victim out there, and would rather reward the monsters like [the juvenile suspect] by demonstrating to them that their actions have no consequences,” Rachel wrote.
“DA Gascon is telling him and every other thug in LA County that it doesn’t matter if you try to murder people. Why are Gascon’s policies prioritizing the livelihood of rotten monsters when my child, my baby, who is incapable of protecting himself, is left to fend for himself, and is essentially being told his life doesn’t matter?”
Shocking surveillance video of the incident showed the teen plowing directly into Rachel as she pushed her 8-month-old son in his stroller down a Venice street the morning of August 6.
Rachel, who appeared to try and fling the stroller out of the way before they were struck, was sent tumbling over the hood of the teen’s car. The teen attempted to speed off but was stopped by another driver who rammed their pickup truck into his vehicle.
The teen was charged with two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and one felony count of hit and run, according to the DA’s office.
Rachel, who wasn’t seriously injured, referred to the attack as attempted murder — and criticized Gascon for continuing to treat juvenile’s with “the lightest touch possible.”
“I have never been more surprised or disappointed, and in fact I have never felt so victimized as I have by the system and current policies of LA’s DA, George Gascon,” she said.
“My heart breaks when I think about all of the other victims out there, less fortunate than me, whose murderers are getting lenient sentences and being released from prison before their sentences are complete.”
She added that she’d been told his record would be “wiped clean” when he turns 18.
“How on earth can that be?” she said. “He tried to murder two innocent pedestrians. Murder. And we have video evidence. My child would be dead if I hadn’t been there to protect him.”
Rachel, whose son also was not seriously hurt, said she would live in fear after the teen’s short sentence is over.
“I thought those were the last moments of our lives; we were dead,” she added. “That feeling, along with the memory of a car accelerating directly into us, will haunt me forever.”
The DA’s office stood by its decision in the teen’s case, telling The Post in a statement, “the decisions made in this case were based on the facts and the law.”
“Fortunately, the baby was uninjured and the mother received a laceration to her elbow. The Sheriff’s Department agreed with the felony charges that were filed,” the office said.
“The Probation Department recommended and the court sentenced the minor to a youth camp for five to seven months, an appropriate resolution.”
Gascon, who is currently facing a second recall effort, has been repeatedly slammed over his lenient policy regarding juvenile criminal cases, including not prosecuting children as adults.
“We stand by the purpose of the juvenile justice system to rehabilitate young people,” his office said when asked about the teen’s case.
“In this case, this teen will be held accountable for his actions and receive the needed services to foster positive development to keep him from committing future offenses.”
