Originally published February 28, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified February 28, 2008 at 10:32 PM

Motorist who struck, killed councilman's aide gets deferred sentence

A Seattle rabbi who struck and killed a pedestrian crossing Southwest Admiral Way in November 2006 was sentenced today to a two-year deferred...

By Nancy Bartley

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Seattle rabbi who struck and killed a pedestrian crossing Southwest Admiral Way in November 2006 was sentenced today to a two-year deferred sentence.

Some 100 letters in support of Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz were sent to Seattle Municipal Court Judge George Holifield.

Schwartz struck Tatsuo Nakata, who was in a crosswalk at 47th Avenue Southwest at 7:41 a.m. Nov. 14, 2006.

According to Seattle police, Nakata, the chief of staff to then-City Councilman David Della, was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he later died.

The King County Prosecutor's Office declined to prosecute Schwartz because he wasn't intoxicated or driving recklessly. Instead Schwartz was charged with assault-injury by vehicle, a gross misdemeanor, filed by the Seattle city attorney in Seattle Municipal Court.

Schwartz was on a cellphone when he struck Nakata, according to court testimony.

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