Prosecutors say driver in I-5 fatal crash distracted by risque cellphone photo

SEATTLE — A Kent man charged with vehicular homicide in a fatal crash was checking out a cellphone picture of a scantily-clad woman when he slammed into a guard rail on Interstate 5, prosecutors said.

Investigators said only two of the six passengers in Aneet Chandra's Cadillac were wearing seatbelts the night of May 1^.  Two passengers were sitting on the laps of those sitting in the back seat.

According to court documents, Chandra was darting through traffic in downtown Seattle when his front passenger handed him a cellphone showing a racy photo.  Seconds later, Chandra lost control and slammed into a guard rail.

Asha Salim, 20, from Federal Way, hit her head on the car’s ceiling, then was thrown out of the car and died.  The five other passengers suffered head and chest injuries and broken bones.

Chandra has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide, three counts of vehicular assault and two counts of reckless endangerment.  He remains in jail on $1 million bail.

KIRO