ASHLEY WELLING
Staff Writer
Aug. 28, 2006, is a day that Deputy Jim Mulay and those who knew him won’t soon forget. For the Los Angeles Sheriff’s motorcycle deputy, it began as just another day on the job patrolling the Pacific Coast Highway.
But the day soon took a turn for the worse.
A few miles down the road at a Wells Fargo Bank in Malibu, an alleged bank robbery had just been committed by 47-year-old Charles Terreal Washington of El Segundo, Calif. While Washington was caught in a high-speed chase, Mulay helped clear traffic to assist the officers involved in the pursuit.
Twenty minutes after the bank robbery, the alleged bank robber turned into much more. While Washington was speeding down P.C.H. at 80 mph, Mulay was on his motorcycle not far ahead. Traveling at 55 mph, Mulay was struck from behind by the evading ex-convict, thrusting him from his motorcycle.
After slamming back first into a parked car, Mulay lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
“I don’t remember anything at that moment,” explains Mulay today. “I only know what people have told me about that day and all I can recollect is waking up in the hospital a week later.”
Within minutes, Mulay was airlifted to the emergency room at UCLA’s medical center. There he was treated for broken neck and back vertebrae, a lacerated liver, a punctured lung, broken ribs and shoulder blades, and a broken ankle.
“Without surgery, he virtually had no chance of regaining functional use of his legs,” explained UCLA neurosurgeon, Dr. Langston T. Holly, in his blog of the incident. “And the instability of his spine precluded him from sitting up.”
Now, 15 months later, Mulay is back at work, part-time for now, and is thankful for his recovery. He appreciates the community’s response.
In the weeks after the accident, blood drives and benefits were held to help the ailing deputy and his wife and two children, both financially and emotionally.
“That was a big deal,” remembers Pepperdine sophomore Ingrid Reimer who recalls the fundraisers that raised money for the injured deputy. “Malibu really came together to help him and his family. It was very touching.”
One such charitable event, held at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, raised $60,000. “It was an absolutely amazing experience,” said master of ceremonies Leah Ann Cevoli. “I am just in awe of the support we received.”
Said Mulay: “Everyone in the community was and continues to be extremely supportive. It has definitely made the road to recovery a little less long.”
It was a long road indeed. Spending the first six months in a body brace and in physical therapy made staying optimistic difficult. But with the support of his family and the community, Mulay made it through the past year and is now enjoying an almost full recovery.
Washington, on the other hand, didn’t exactly get a lucky break. Fleeing the scene of the crime, he was arrested in his Los Angeles home on August 29, 2006. He was then charged with 14 felony counts including the attempted murder of a police officer. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
With the date of Washington’s sentencing uncertain but looming, Mulay says he tries to put it the events leading up till now out of his mind.
“I really try not to focus on what happened that day,” explained Mulay. “It’s in the past, and that is not what is going to help me get back to the way I was.”
While Mulay plans to attend Washington’s sentencing hearing when the date is set, he says that he is only going so he can see the man who intentionally crashed into him more than a year ago.
“I don’t want to talk to him,” continues Mulay. “I would just like to see his face in person.”
As far as his recovery, Mulay has finally returned to work but still hasn’t made a complete turn-around. Returning Sept. 10, 2007, little more than a year after the incident, he beams that he was warmly welcomed back to the Lost Hills Police Station. Although on limited station duty, he is proud to be back working and focusing on something other than his recovery.
“He is a fantastic human being,” Dr. Holly proclaims in his blog. “I feel blessed that I was able to participate in his care.”
Although his life was changed dramatically by one fateful crash, Mulay says that everything is finally starting to get back to normal.
“I’ve asked myself a lot of questions since then,” explains Mulay, “Why did I survive? Why did I make it through when it seemed hopeless? In then end it really comes down to the people around you, and I know I couldn’t have made it through without them.”
12-06-2007
