Flying-debris case nets no charges

A Newcastle man who was hauling a rental trailer in February when a large board flew off it and smashed through the windshield of a trailing Jeep — blinding the driver permanently — will not be charged with a crime.

Instead, James Hefley, 29, will be issued a traffic citation for failing to secure a load, which could cost him $82 to $174, depending on certain criteria.

King County prosecutors said yesterday they had considered felony hit-and-run and misdemeanor reckless-endangerment charges against him.

But they don't have sufficient evidence to prove either in court, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

"We looked at the case thoroughly to look at all the possibilities, and this is the only thing that we could file," Donohoe said, referring to the citation.

Prosecutors would have had to prove Hefley knew he had lost the board and that the board had caused an accident, Donohoe said.

The latter requirement would have been difficult, Donohoe said.

The driver of the trailing car, Maria Federici, 24, will need extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy. An April benefit event at Club Medusa in Seattle, where Federici worked, raised more than $102,000 to cover her medical costs.

The accident occurred about 11:45 p.m. Feb. 22 on Interstate 405 near Renton as Federici, a recent University of Washington graduate, was driving to her apartment in Renton.

After the board flew into Federici's face, her car hit the median and glided to a stop on the shoulder. She suffered numerous broken bones in her face.

Investigators with the State Patrol believe Hefley might have stopped about a mile down the road to examine his U-Haul.

Detectives tracked down Hefley a few weeks later after finding his fingerprint on the 2-by-6-foot board, which was part of a home-entertainment system.

Hefley's fingerprints were in a national database because he had been arrested before in California and Oregon.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com