Driver gets house arrest in 2018 Fremont crash that killed woman

A Menlo Park man was sentenced to 210 days of house arrest and 30 hours of community service after pleading no contest to manslaughter in connection with a 2018 crash on Interstate 880.

Rashad Attaway, 47, was convicted of killing 58-yearold Lori Peterson by crashing his 1997 Mercedes-Benz sedan into a 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Peterson's husband. The April 18, 2018, crash caused the SUV to roll over and spill gasoline all over the freeway, according to witness testimony.

Attaway was charged because multiple witnesses told police the Mercedes was speeding and weaving through traffic until it lost control, according to the California Highway Patrol. The plea deal was finalized in late January. But the defense planned to call witnesses to contradict those statements, and was prepared to argue that it was a tragic car accident, according to court records.

Lori Peterson's husband, Craig Peterson, testified at the July 2021 preliminary hearing that he was heading north on I-880 in Fremont to support another family member who was having a medical procedure that day. He said he heard his wife say “look out”; within a second, he saw a blur and felt the impact of the crash.

“Simultaneous with me seeing the blur, I felt a hard impact on the right rear of the vehicle,” Craig Peterson testified. “The rear end of my vehicle spun around to my left and we became perpendicular to the initial direction of traffic.”

He testified that some good Samaritans stopped to help and pulled Lori Peterson from the wreck, concerned the gasoline spill might start a fire, but that she never regained consciousness. Her obituary describes her as a retired nurse and dedicated family woman who loved knitting and was active in a local church.

“While Lori loved being a nurse and the challenges of management, she would be quick to tell you that her most important work was raising two fine children and caring for her family,” the obituary says. “Lori was a human dynamo! She cooked, baked, cleaned, gardened, crocheted, knitted and painted or stained every surface of her home in Campbell.”

Attaway gets credit for one day he spent in jail after his arrest. He has been free on $150,000 bail since the charges were filed in July 2021, court records show. The terms of his sentencing require electronic monitoring but allow Attaway to leave his home at predetermined times to see his child.