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Courtesy Willard Hilborn
Dennis Christopher Dietrich, left, Willard Hilborn, right, at Hilborn’s 60th birthday party. Dietrich died and Hilborn was seriously injured when they were struck by a car in December east of the Las Vegas Strip. The driver, 25-year-old Mahmod Alseidahmad, was sentenced to two to five years in prison.
By Cara McCoy 
Thursday, May 13, 2010 | 11:56 a.m.
Sun Archives
Willard Hilborn leaned on a cane as he walked to the witness stand Thursday to tell a judge how his life had been forever changed when a 26-year-old man drove his car onto a sidewalk east of the Las Vegas Strip, striking him and his partner, who were in Las Vegas for a trade show.
Hilborn, 60, was seriously injured. Dennis Christopher Dietrich, 56, died at the scene.
District Court Judge James Bixler on Thursday sentenced the man who was behind the wheel, Mahmod Alseidahmad, to two to five years in prison.
Hilborn returned to Las Vegas for the sentencing hearing. He told the judge he had returned to the scene of the accident, which happened in front of Blair House Suites in the 300 block of Desert Inn Road. The collision happened Dec. 9, 2009.
“The light post has been freshly painted to hide the bloodstains. Please don’t whitewash what Mahmod has done,” an emotional Hilborn implored the judge.
Alseidahmad in March pleaded guilty to one count of reckless driving in connection with the collision. Police initially believed he was under the influence of prescription drugs but toxicology reports showed he didn't have drugs or alcohol in his system.
Witnesses told investigators that shortly before the wreck, they saw Alseidahmad’s black 1995 Honda Accord traveling at speeds up to 70 mph, weaving in and out of traffic. After the driver lost control, the vehicle spun and its rear struck the men. The car came to rest after striking a light pole, police said.
Prosecutor Steve Waters argued for the maximum sentence, which would have been two to six years. In court, he read from witness statements. One witness described to police after the wreck that “the men, dressed with convention center badges draped around their necks, were hit like ragdolls and thrown down the sidewalk.”
He said what happened was not an accident, calling Alseidahmad’s actions “wanton behavior.”
“This is no different than somebody taking a shotgun and pointing towards a crowd and firing,” he said. “The expected result – when you treat Desert Inn as your own personal NASCAR track – is you’re going to lose control, you’re going to wreck and you’re going to kill somebody.”
Alseidahmad’s attorney, Ihab Omar, asked the judge for mercy.
“Give him the benefit of the doubt in this case, give him the benefit that other people have gotten in worse circumstances than this,” he asked the judge. “We understand that somebody died – it’s a tragedy your honor – we feel for the victims. But ultimately at its core, this is about an accident.”
A shackled Alseidahmad apologized before his sentence was handed down.
“I want to apologize for the people I have harmed in this unfortunate incident. I feel horrible for what’s happened,“ he said, apologizing to the victim’s family and friends. “My heart goes out to each and every one of them. I had no intention to hurt anybody and I wish that this never happened.”
Hilborn told the judge that he was talking to a friend on the phone when he was hit by the car. She heard the entire scene unfold and still has nightmares, he said.
Hilborn said injuries to his knee, ankle and hip may never fully heal.
“I’m told that my body, like my life, will never be the same as before,” Hilborn said. “I may some day be able to sleep through the night, find happiness, get another dog, buy another home, and in general continue on with my life. But Christopher Deitrich will never have that chance.
“I suffer through this every day, but I am alive. Chris’s life was violently ripped from him because of the careless actions of another human being.”
Alseidahmad, a native of Jordan, could face deportation after he serves his sentence, authorities have said. He was arrested at University Medical Center after the wreck and has been held in the Clark County Detention Center on $250,000 bail.
"But ultimately at its core, this is about an accident." No. An accident is what happens when something could not have been avoided. And to say "other people have gotten in worse circumstances than this" is nothing short of reprehensible. They should put the guy's lawyer in jail just for having the audacity to mouth those words.
I hope no accidents happen to the man in jail.
Reckless driving is not the same as pointing a shotgun toward a crowd and firing. Reckless driving is stupid and often results in tragedy, as it did here, but the driver never thinks that he is going to crash or harm anyone. He makes a terrible, devastating error in judgment. There is no evidence that any malice was involved in this case, whereas if you point a shotgun toward a crowd and fire, there is a malicious, deliberate intent to harm.
Deport Ihab Omar too.
one guy gets 2 to 5 and the other gets the death penalty - no justice in that!
Speeding and talking on the phone at the same time, of course he lost control, Too many times I see people on the road clearly not paying attention to their driving, because they are on their phone, God forbid any of them are texting. This is the exact reason I wont drive freeways, I don't believe everyone is focused on their driving, and all it takes is one idiot. See above.
This man is a dangerous and aggressive driver and after he is released from prison he should never be allowed to have a driver's license. I feel the same should apply to anyone who hits and kills a pedestrian on a sidewalk.
This young man's driving may have been acceptable in the Middle East where speeding and being reckless is commonplace. It's not okay on Las Vegas streets, but it is also not that rare here either. I drive the speed limit on highways and road, usually in the middle lane and never in the fast lane. On a busy time of day, I get passed by a car going 10 mph over the speed limit at least once a minute.
IdiotWind: I respectfully disagree. Driving a several-ton piece of metal at high speed on a busy road with lots of pedestrians IS the same as pointing a shotgun at them. A better analogy would be someone picking up a shotgun and pointing it at a crowd but thinking that the shotgun isn't likely to go off.
No one but the surviving victim of this tragedy will ever know the full extent of the damage and loss caused by the careless actions of the defendant in this case. The surviving victim here is a long time personal friend, who will have to carry the physical and emotional damage and scars of this tragedy with him for the rest of his life.I see and hear this in his voice and actions every day. You can replace lost or damaged property, but not the life of a loved one. The reality here is that the defendant will serve a couple of years for this then probably be deported back to his country and never be made financially responsible for his actions, while the victims and their families and friends will spend the rest of their lives suffering their losses.
I see it everyday. Out of control drivers weaving, passing on the right, cutting off cars, speeding, on the phone.
After the carnage you hear "sorry"...
too little, too late. They don't get it.