Physician to be tried in death of daughter

Thursday, March 2, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun

Prosecutors have charged a trauma room physician with felony reckless driving in connection with the death of his 11-year-old daughter in a Jan. 18 traffic collision.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said Wednesday that while he sympathized with Dr. Salahuddin Ahmed for the death of his daughter, Hafsa, he was obligated to charge Ahmed for allegedly running a stop sign and putting his vehicle in the path of an oncoming sport utility vehicle.

Ahmed, his wife and two younger children survived the crash with minor injuries, but Hafsa - who, like her mother and siblings, was not wearing a seat belt - was ejected and killed. Ahmed was wearing a seat belt.

"The doctor allegedly committed a number of different traffic violations that amounted to reckless driving," Roger said. "Although it's tragic that his child was killed in the accident, we have to treat him the same as we would others."

In 2003 Ahmed was among a handful of University Medical Center trauma room physicians who educated paramedics and other first-responders on the kinds of injuries to expect in traffic crashes.

He is to appear in Justice Court on March 22 for arraignment. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to six years in prison.

In seeking the charges, Metro Police traffic investigators said Ahmed's Toyota SUV was traveling about 43 mph in a 25-mph zone on Gillespie Street and ran a stop sign at Pebble Road.

It was struck by another SUV traveling on Pebble within the 45-mph speed limit, police said. The 17-year-old driver of that vehicle was not injured.

In bringing charges against Ahmed, the district attorney's office said the doctor was not paying attention, was speeding, ran a stop sign and failed to make sure his passengers were safely restrained in their seats.

"The fact that his family has been traumatized will certainly be taken into consideration in determining a fair resolution to this case, but it did not play a role in deciding whether to charge Dr. Ahmed," Roger said.

Ahmed has been on leave as a trauma center anesthesiologist at University Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said.