Scottsdale Hotel Valet Negligence Kills 14-Year Old

ABC 15 reports that prosecution of a 2012 DUI incident has resulted in a second-degree murder conviction.

A valet parking attendant at the Scottsdale W Hotel enabled a felon to take a joyride in someone else’s Porsche, which led to a crash that killed a young boy, according to the boy’s family.

W Hotel owner Shawn Yari owns multiple bar properties in Scottsdale’s Bar District. Yari and his liquor industry associates effectively control Mayor Jim Lane and the Scottsdale City Council majority (including incumbent council candidates Linda Milhaven and Dennis Robbins).

In return for their generous campaign contributions, Yari and his associates have received generous zoning concessions; slaps on the wrist for illegal parties and violations of noise ordinances; and watering down of public safety ordinances.

Yari has bragged about how much money he has. Now he may have to fork over a significant portion of it. With the driver of the stolen Porsche now convicted, the family of the victim, Edgar Velasquez of Riverside, CA,

…has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hotel, the valet company, and the attendant.

With Scottsdale PD’S weekly arrest logs routinely exceeding 20 pages, incidents like this are inevitable. Case in point is the DUI-related crash that left Kansas college student Cody Clark permanently disabled. The owners of Axis/Radius (now Bottled Blonde) right down the street from the W own that one.

KPHO CBS5 reported in 2012 and 2013:

Police said John Morken, of Phoenix, was driving a stolen car and speeding down Interstate 10 near milepost 74 Saturday when he hit an SUV from behind, causing the driver of the Suburban to lose control and crash into the median. Police said the vehicle rolled several times and all four children inside were thrown from the vehicle.

A 13-year-old [reported as 14 by ABC15] in the vehicle died. He has been identified as Edgar Velasquez. A 12-year-old and a 5-year-old had serious head trauma and internal injuries. Two adults and an infant in the Suburban had minor injuries. All the victims are from Riverside, CA.

Milepost 74 on I-10 is in far western Maricopa County. I only note this to illustrate that problems created by Scottsdale’s Bar District (with the highest concentration of liquor licenses in the whole state of Arizona, approximately 187 within one square mile, according to council candidate Cindy Hill quoted in the Scottsdale Independent) are spilling out into surrounding communities and even the far reaches of the county.