by Linda Woo, King County Journal

A 25-year-old Federal Way man with a history of traffic violations was charged yesterday for driving a speeding vehicle that struck and fatally injured a teen-age pedestrian before careening into a home earlier this week.

Robert Eugene Newman was charged in King County Superior Court with one count each of vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run for a collision Sunday that threw 18-year-old Ian J. Anderson-Muldoon into the corner of a garage.

Muldoon, who was walking to his parents' house, sustained head and abdominal injuries and a broken leg. He died Tuesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Witnesses say Newman's white Ford Bronco was speeding west on South 288th Street just before 9 p.m. when he crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. The driver of an eastbound car said she saw Newman and swerved to avoid a head-on collision but Newman sideswiped her car and drove across both eastbound lanes onto the sidewalk.

Newman's Bronco then struck Muldoon and ``continued without any sign of braking through brush and small trees,'' court documents said. The sports utility vehicle crossed a driveway on 27th Avenue South, slammed through a wooden fence and crashed into a parked car and garage at the home of Kay and Karl Waldherr.

Muldoon  was carried on the front of Newman's vehicle until he was thrown against the garage, according to Federal Way police officer Douglas Deyo.

Witnesses said Newman ran from the scene, leaving the vehicle's radio blasting and the motor running. Homeowner Karl Waldherr ran after Newman and two passers-by helped him restrain Newman until police arrived. Police say Newman continued to try to flee afterward and fought with witnesses.

Police officers said Newman's eyes were watery and bloodshot and his breath had a strong odor of intoxicants. Newman's speech was slurred, his coordination poor and his walk unsteady, court documents said.

In a bail request yesterday, King County prosecutors said Newman is a ``danger to the community and a flight risk.''

Last year, Newman was charged in Tukwila Municipal Court with driving under the influence and pleaded guilty to first-degree negligent driving with alcohol.

``The current incident reveals probable cause that he was driving extremely intoxicated and endangered several citizens, killing a pedestrian. He only stopped driving when his car was disabled after crashing into a home,'' King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim wrote. ``He attempted to flee the scene before police arrived and fought with the citizens who detained him.''

Newman is being held in the King County Jail on $100,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 21.

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2001-08-22
Journal Reporter Linda Woo

KENT -- A 25-year-old Federal Way man with a history of traffic violations pleaded not guilty yesterday to driving a speeding car that struck and killed a pedestrian before careening into a home.

Robert Eugene Newman, who is charged with vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run, remained silent yesterday as his attorney, Anthony Savage, entered his plea in King County Superior Court in Kent. Savage likely will ask that Newman's bond, set at $100,000, be reduced at a bond hearing Monday.

Witnesses said Newman's white Ford Bronco was speeding westbound on South 288th Street just before 9 p.m. on Aug. 5 when he crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, sideswiped an oncoming car, and drove across both eastbound lanes onto the sidewalk.

Along the way, Newman's Bronco struck 19-year-old Ian  Muldoon of Seattle and ``continued without any sign of braking through brush and small trees,'' court documents said. The sports utility vehicle then crossed a driveway on 27th Avenue South, slammed through a wooden fence and crashed into a parked car and garage at the home of Kay and Karl Waldherr.

Witnesses said Newman ran from the scene. Homeowner Karl Waldherr ran after Newman and two passers-by helped him restrain Newman until Federal Way police arrived.

A blood draw showed Newman had a .22 blood-alcohol content, King County deputy prosecutor Jennifer Ritchie said. The legal limit is .08.

According to family and friends, Ian, who attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way and graduated from Nathan Hale High School in Seattle last year, was supposed to spend the night at a friend's and leave early the next morning to work on a construction job. He was the lead singer in the Seattle Band Five Good Reasons, and active in his school's drama and radio programs.

Last year, Newman was charged in Tukwila Municipal Court with driving under the influence and pleaded guilty to first-degree negligent driving with alcohol.

2002-01-12
Journal Reporter Kathleen Merrill

KENT -- More than 50 people remembered a band singer from Federal Way with bursts of laughter and body-wracking sobs as the drunken driver who struck and killed him was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday.

Ian Anderson-Muldoon, 19, was struck and slammed into a garage by a car driven up on the sidewalk by Robert Newman, 26, after Newman struck another car.

Anderson-Muldoon died two days after the accident at 9 p.m. Aug. 5 in Federal Way.

Newman, of Federal Way, had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he hit Anderson-Muldoon.

Newman declined to speak when Middaugh asked him if he had anything to say.

``Mr. Newman is just as loved and respected as Mr. Anderson was,'' his attorney Tony Savage said, asking that he be given 3½ years. ``He has just as many friends and family who love him.''

But yesterday's hearing was more about Anderson-Muldoon, a popular singer in a band called Five Good Reasons.

``He loved life more than anyone and he appreciated everything he had,'' said Anderson-Muldoon's 15-year-old sister, Kate Muldoon, as tears streamed down her face. ``I love him very much and I miss him every day.''

John Muldoon, Anderson-Muldoon's stepfather since Anderson-Muldoon was 10, asked for justice, and brought loud sobs from many when he said Newman ``made a decision to kill Ian. He crushed him into a house and killed him and then he ran like a coward.''

Even Senior Deputy Prosecutor Amy Freedheim became emotional when she talked about the crash that killed Anderson-Muldoon.

Amy Muldoon, Anderson-Muldoon's mother, talked about how her son would ``drive the neighbors crazy'' by switching all the Republican signs in the neighborhood with Democrat signs.

``He had a genuine joy for life, more so than most people could ever imagine,'' she said, comparing his zest for life to that of a puppy. ``If you gave him five dollars, he would behave as if you gave him a hundred.

``It is a supreme injustice that Ian is gone. He died alone, and that hurts me more than I can say. I have to drive by that spot every day of my life,'' she said. The scene of the accident was near her home. Amy Muldoon then blasted people who drink and drive.

``The cost of calling a cab is a very small thing in proportion to someone's life,'' she said, choking back tears. ``When you're drinking and you choose to drive, you might as well be walking down the road randomly firing a gun.''

Freedheim asked for Newman to be sentenced to the maximum four years on a charge of vehicular homicide and the maximum 4½ years on a charge of hit and run. Middaugh gave him four years on each count, to run concurrently.

Newman pleaded guilty in October. He had a blood alcohol level of .22 percent at the time of the crash; the legal limit is .08 percent.

Newman was charged with DUI in Tukwila not long before killing Anderson-Muldoon, but that had been pleaded down to first-degree negligent driving.

Savage said he thought the sentence was fair.

``The world's worst vehicular homicide is not intentional,'' he said after the hearing. ``He meant to drive, but he didn't mean to kill that young man.''