WASHINGTON CITY – It’s a 5th District Court ruling that has some people talking, stemming from an incident that Tajia Scott would like to forget.
A man who sped through the Wal-Mart parking lot on May 23, 2012 – all the time smiling and laughing, Scott said – as he drove his motor home straight towards her and a group of teens, was sentenced on Tuesday to one year in jail and 36 months of probation on felony charges of aggravated assault and driving under the influence.
In his statement in support of guilty plea, entered June 18 of this year, Nickolas Michael May, 44, confirmed the following facts as a basis for the Court to accept his plea and prove the elements of the crime:
On or about May 23, 2012, the defendant, Nickolas Michael May, while driving a motor home in a parking lot ran into a teenager boy. Nickolas then tried to drove toward another teenager with the motor home. Nickolas admitted to police officers that he had drank 13 beers.
“It was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me!” Tajia Scott said when asked to recall what happened that night. “If we didn’t run we’d all be dead right now! There was no way that guy was stopping! He looked me right in the eyes and just laughed!”
The teens were standing in the Wal-Mart parking lot when “out of nowhere a small RV starts driving up to us and was getting closer,” Dion Harradine said, another one of the teens recalling being chased by the motorist. “We thought he was just joking around with us, but then he got way too close and we tried to move out of the way.”
“Me and Dion got away but our friend couldn’t move fast enough and the RV came and pinned him between my jeep and (May’s) RV,” Scott said.
One of the four teens was badly injured when May pinned the teen up against Scott’s Jeep with his motor home. The awning pole from May’s motor home pierced the victim-teen’s calf and tore open his leg as it dragged the teen’s leg across the Jeep.
“The RV pinned my friend and ripped a huge hole in the back of his leg,” Harradine said. “I thought he was going to hit Tajia, too! Then he chased after me, then turned around and chased after her again!”
Witnesses told police that May was racing and swerving around the Wal-Mart parking lot at high rates of speed, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. Before leaving the scene, May turned his motor home back in the direction of the 4 teens for one last shot, narrowly missing them as they scattered. A witness followed May as he sped out of the Wal-Mart parking lot and summoned police when May crashed his motor home on Middleton Drive.
May was originally charged with: one count of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; three more counts of aggravated assault, all third-degree felonies; driving under the influence, a third-degree felony; causing an accident involving injury or death, a class-A misdemeanor; and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor.
May accepted his plea-agreement in June and pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one a second-degree felony and the other a third-degree felony, and one count of third-degree felony DUI, admitting that while drunk, he used his RV to hit a group of teenagers in a Washington City parking lot.
Many were displeased with May’s one-year sentencing handed down by Judge Eric Ludlow in 5th District Court on Tuesday.
Scott said she is “definitely not satisfied with (Judge Ludlow’s) decision.” Scott and her father said that they felt Judge Ludlow was too easy on May. “I think he should be there longer than he was sentenced. He could’ve killed (my friend) … and us all,” she said.
“There’s one thing that gets me every time I think about that night, when he was chasing us he was smiling and laughing the whole time like it was a joke,” Harradine recalled.
“I couldn’t sleep at night and had to have counseling because of him. He smiled right at me as he pinned (my friend) against my jeep. He’s a sick man, and he should be locked up for a very long time,” Scott said.
Attempts to reach the primary accident victim for comment were unsuccessful as this report is published.
Ed. Note: Tajia Scott is extended family of the author.
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Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
“Nickolas then tried to drove toward another teenager with the motor home.” [Sigh] Come on guys, a little proofreading?
Regarding the jail sentence, I hope that if anything like this should ever happen to Judge Ludlow’s family (heaven forbid) he’d have a better judge than himself handing down the sentence. This is a disgrace.
Joanna, the rules of journalism prohibit altering quoted material – whether written, spoken, grammar or spelling. Quoted material is “as is,” no matter how much it begs to be improved upon. 🙂
This is a direct quote from the defendant’s statement in support of his plea agreement.
ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief
..those rules don’t appear to pertain to most segments of the MSM Joyce..
.
different rule books for different folks?
What. The. h…. He should have gotten more time. That’s insane, he tried to kill them!
Ed. ellipsis.
Come on Molly, don’t you know the proper spelling for the word “hell” in Utah is HECK! Surprisingly though, you can use the word … and get it past the editors. I’ve seen it happen before.
Ed. ellipsis
These victims have every right to be disappointed and angry of this sentence. Apparently Judge Ludlow is one of these bleeding heart judges who does not believe that anyone should be accountable for their actions. How in the world did we ever get stuck with this limp Richard as a judge?
If I remember correctly, one article I read on this incident stated that the driver has mental problems. So what? I honestly don’t care if this driver has mental problems or not. HE made the choice to drink. HE made the choice to drive, and HE made the choice to chase down these kids. He should be put away for a very long time, if not as punishment, at least as a protection to society.
And we need to find a way to give Judge Ludlow a forced retirement.
That being said, what the heck are these kids doing hanging out in the Walmart parking lot? Don’t they have better places to meet and hang out? Oh wait, this is Dixie, and we really don’t have much for kids to do here. . .
My name is Nicole Jensen. The boy that was injured and had 3 surgeries and 4 nights in the hospital is my son! I attended the hearing of course. May did spend a few months in jail at the time of the incident. I ‘am just grateful that he was sentenced back to jail at all. The defense was asking for 90 days with credit for time served which would have meant NO jail time.
My evil twin, to address your question what were these kids doing hanging out in a parking lot? It was the first day of summer, they were all at a park, the park closed so they all decided to meet in the walmart parking lot, regroup, and figure out where every one wanted to go. They were in the parking lot for a total of 5 minutes minding their own business simply standing by a car talking….this entire incident was captured on the walmart parking lot camera.
One year! That sounds like nonsense. I would like to know more about this Judge and his sentencing history. He is in an appointed position right? I wonder when his term is over? Maybe comments on this should go to the Governor so he won’t be reappointed.
The USA is now a police state. There will be a massive protest in Washington, DC starting May 16, 2014.
We are past the point of no return and must move forward with an effort to save our nation, as there is no other choice. We are asking, pleading with you, and any others that have resources, national voices, email lists, blogs, FB, Twitter, to call for a non-violent American Spring May 16, 2014 in Washington D.C. We must appeal to ten million and more American patriots to come and stay in Washington, D.C. to stop the White House and Congress from total destruction of the United States. It’s now or never. God help us.
http://www.operationamericanspring.org