This incident sound very similar to a fatal traffic collision on Treat Boulevard in Concord on April 7. A 17 year old kid drove aggressively and killed two bicyclists. The victims were Solaiman Nuri, 41, and daughter Hadessa Nuri, 9.
Why would anybody drive that aggressively? Some new video game, movie or TV show? Drugs or alcohol?
I hope this is not a new trend.

He was cited and released after a homicide? What kind of lawyer does he have?

Anyone know this Matthew Pumar? What is he like? Is he a student a local school? Why was he speeding down a residential street at 9:30am in the morning.

There is a mug shot of him here: Web Link

Wow.. 21 and in that kind of trouble.

Well I hope the truth comes out in court. Sounds like there were a few witnesses to this guy's driving in an unsafe manner in that area.

Let's not blame video games.. it's been documented for generations now that young people drive way too fast. That's not something we get to blame on the current generation.

It's inexperience and lack of thinking. Very sad someone had to die to teach this guy a lesson.

Did they run drug and alcohol tests at the scene that day? Was distracted driving (cell phone, food or whatever) a factor? It is so wrong that someone lost their life waiting for a bus. I really hope Mr. Pumar serves jail time AND is never allowed to drive again. It would be justice for him to have to take the bus for the rest of his life.

The memorial with all the flowers and candles for Mr. Ware at that bus stop is both beautiful and extremely sad. It is touching to see how many people liked him and miss him.

Looks like Mr. Pumar possibly did a mighty fine job of scrubbing his online persona before agreeing to turn himself in to the authorities. All that seems to remain are a couple of cached Facebook likes on stuff that appears to connect to UC Berkeley, but his own FB presence is long gone. Imagine that. Sure would be interesting to see what he posted there after the incident.

Making generalizations here, but he looks like one of those spoiled 21yo precious little snowflakes, probably working somewhere in the social media space and thinking he's all that, to whom "little people" don't matter. At least he didn't get any yoga teachers fired, too.

@ OLd Saw, I like your post and was thinking the same thing. Matthew Pumar, had two and a half weeks to get his story straight, hire a attorney and delete his online presence. I see he is a graduate of UC Berkely. He didn't sit in jail for a minute. He turned himself in with his attorney and had a Bail Bondsman with him.

He needs to be in jail.

this person is hopeless, he deserves a felony and to be in jail, he should never be given a drivers license again ... unfortunately justice won't be served in this one as the law does not yet recognize cell phone use while driving as a DUI

this accident should never be forgotten but its just a gross misdemeanor, he'll probably change his name and be like it never happened

the guy turns himself in accompanied by his lawyer and a bailsbondsman, immediately posts bail and is released. i don't think he will do any serious time, not the time he should do. when you drive like he was allegedly driving its no accident when someone gets hurt or killed. manslaughter is for accidents.

It's easy to project our anger onto this young man and make up stories: he was using drugs, it's the fault of video games, he's a spoiled brat, showing up with a lawyer proves guilt, etc. But it pays to maintain a little rationality here.

1. Everyone is entitled to representation by a lawyer. He wasn't arrested until there was enough evidence. Would you want to pay to keep someone in jail for two weeks only to find out the cause was brake failure?

2. Two people lost there lives that day. This young man won't be the same, jail or not. He isn't special in this. Over 50,000 Americans are killed in auto accidents every year. Who knows why he was speeding? It only takes being in a rush to get to work once to end someone's life. We don't know yet. That's why we have court cases. Vilifying him on the internet because he "scrubbed his Facebook profile" is pointless. How do you know he had much of a profile if he deleted it so effectively?

3. Should he be found guilty, I would much rather he spend his time making restitution to the surviving family than rot behind bars at society's expense. Make him the poster boy for the importance of safe driving. Send him to schools to tell his story as a warning to new drivers. We have too many people locked up who pose no danger to others already. Revoke his license and don't renew it until he can prove he's no longer a threat.

I hope the Ware family can find some peace in time. I understand the anger in the comments, but I think it hurts more than it helps.

Local Rationalism - This kid, KILLED, this man by being stupid and reckless.
I don't care what he feels. It's his fault this happened. No one else. He made his bed. Let him lie in it.
Holding hands and singing 'kumbaya' doesn't solve anything. Justice needs to be served.

the max is only 6 years?!

Very disappointing that the penalties for extreme reckless driving are so light. That is one of the reasons that reckless drivers keep at it.

The speed limit on CA Ave is 35MPH. You should be able to stop your car suddenly in about 50 meters. Instead this guy was going way over the speed limit according to witnesses and couldn't stop his car within those 50 meters and instead takes out a bus top, steel poles and a water main. And some guy above blames it maybe on poor brakes? How about reckless acceleration.

Anyway, I blame Bill Clinton. Do a wrong, deny, deny, deny, diminish, diminish, diminish, change the meaning of words, discuss the meaning of the word "is", get a good lawyer, reform you image superficially, and walk free.

That is what will happen to this guy. Mark my words.

Why isn't he charged with Negligent Homicide? What's the rationale, here?

He's being handled like eggs by the MVPD and the DA.

I smell money.

EDWIN said: "Anyway, I blame Bill Clinton."
I'm just gonna let that one hang for your amusement. I guess for some, things are just that simple.

@ Edwin don't forget the two large trees his car hit and knocked over with all the large roots being pulled up from the ground. Finally the third tree approx 220 ft from the initial hit of the victim stopped him disabling his car.

To bad the mermorial service wasn't recorded, so this reckless Matthew would be able to watch about the life that he took! all that Bill was, all that Bill did, all the lives he touched and all the lives Bill will touch no more:( the pain that this young man Matthew has caused to so many. Matthew was a careless driver, The news said he was going 90 mies an hour REALLY Matthew! The reason he didn't run was because there was so many witnesses to keep him there. Anger you say? it's not anger it's that this punk took a awesome life and for what? Did you hear the story on how Bill road the bus on Thanks Giving for four hours to bring someone a Turkey? I bet Matthew has never even considerd doing something so selfless like that! the reason I can say this is because someone who cares about people like Bill did doesn't drive 90 miles an hour.

I guess the point is that if the President of the United States can't even admit he committed a wrong, then why should/would any one else! Just lawyer up, reform your image (and maybe seek rehab or religious councilling), and you're on your way and soon as the public has been duped into thinking it was just a minor lapse of judgement.

This guy is probably already back on the road.

If he still has a driver's license there is something VERY seriously wrong with the law.

@ old saw
What if I told you that your assumption of who he is could not be more wrong? Let's judge him solely by the actions that took place not by some false caricature constructed out of anger and assumptions.

It sure is good to set in judgement of an individual when any one of you could be selected for jury duty to determine this young man's guilt or innocence. What if you knew this young adult had an unblimished driving and criminal record, a college graduate and a loving son of proud parents. Yes, it is a terrible crash but how does one know that an equipment malfunction occurred or the tri-light signal was in bad operation order. Go ahead all you self-righteous hypocrite and bury this young man because we have such a perfect world in MV.

Uh... because there were many witnesses reported here and who supplied statements to the police that he was driving like a complete maniac. If that were not the case, why then was he arrested?

The reality is that Matthew is your brother. He's your cousin. He's your son. He's literally just a kid that did something that started stupid and became CONSIDRABLY more very quickly.

He's not a monster though. He's just a kid.

A 21 year old kid.

A 21 year old kid with no accidents or speeding tickets on his record. Probably never even been in a fight, but he is a college graduate.

A 21 year old college graduate that was speeding. Why he was speeding, no one knows, but I don't know a single 21 year old that hasn't ever done it. I also don't know many that haven't accidentally run a red light, but this particular time, something was in the road and he swerved to avoid it.

Tragically, he hit Mr. Ware. The only thing we can be certain of is that he hit Mr. Ware at a speed that meant he probably didn't feel much pain, though obviously his family feels his loss. Everyone should grieve his loss because it happened in a way it shouldn't have. In an ACCIDENT.

It's easy to try and create a monster because an innocent man died, but we can't forget that we've all made mistakes, but not all of us have had such poor luck that someone died from our mistakes.

We shouldn't forget that this careless accident was an accident. There was no malice involved, though it seems many want to read malice into the act. It's not an issue of money vs. poverty, though people want to believe it is. It's an accident. A terrible accident that took someone's life. Why should we condemn another life because of this one tragic mistake? Shouldn't we use this as an example to teach others so it doesn't happen to them?

Ever since I heard about this accident I couldn't help but wonder if it had been me driving. Or my brother. Or my cousin. Or my son. Just a generally good kid who made a horrible mistake, looking at a future uncertain...

I also couldn't help but imagine the other side of it. If it were me at the bus stop. Or my brother. Or my cousin. Or my son. Would we have wanted this young man's life to be ended with ours?

It's a terrible tragedy. We should mourn the loss of Mr. Ware. But be wary of casting off judgment. Maybe Matthew could still be the kid that grows into the man that eventually saves your life. Or your brother's. Or your cousin's. Or your Son's...

Or would we have wanted it to be a lesson for him to teach the rest of us?

@oldsaw: This is my cousin and he didn't do any "scrubbing" of his online persona, first off. He probably shouldn't have been driving the way he was but drugs/alcohol was not an issue-he's very smart, congenial, and family oriented. Things like this happen all the time and it's a shame that the best of us make mistakes like this but time will go on and soon enough another accident will happen and every one move on to judge that individual as if they were God much like what's happening now.

Shouldn't one of your questions be:

How many of us haven't blasted through an intersection/red light at a ridiculously high speed? (Likely very few of us)

or;

Aren't we lucky there were no children or other people in the line of destruction?

It was not an ACCIDENT. It was negligence. There were plenty of witnesses, there's no doubt whatsoever about what happened. He's not some innocent kid. He's a grown man whose arrogance behind the wheel killed someone. People must be held accountable for their actions behind the wheel.

The coddling going on here reminds me of that filthy acupuncturist who killed that poor old man last year in a hit and run. She's from Saratoga, oodles of money there, and she got off with one year's suspension of her license. Don't tell me the judgement would've been the same if she'd been from East Palo Alto.

This kid needs some serious jail time, at the very least, and no driver's license, EVER.

"He probably shouldn't have been driving the way he was"!?!

How about, most definitely not!

Your response speaks volumes as to your real motivation.

And as hard as it might seem for you to believe, things don't "happen like this all the time. These things are very much preventable!

I have never ever sped through a red light in a residential area (or any other area). Also, I have never run a red light when turning left.

Seems to me that this driver committed 4 moving violations at the same time: speeding, running a red light, making an illegal left turn, driving on the sidewalk. Each violation is a separate choice that the driver had to make. While some people may consider one violation to be a stupid youthful mistake, there is no way that any reasonable person would consider 4 seriously bad decisions to be "an accident".

How many of us speed sometimes? I'll bet the vast majority, reflecting the arbitrary nature of our traffic laws. But most of us don't need any posted limit to know it's idiotic to do 80 in town.

REALLY!!! You must not keep up with what some of the witnesses are saying that MATTHEW was a well-known speeder and had been warned about his driving a year ago, too bad he didn't harken to this warning, so Bill could still be alive and well living the life he lived as a person who help others! Forgiveness I'm all for, but defending him and trying to find excesses for him not at all! No car malfunction, or trying to avoid hitting another car, the only reason he was trying to avoid another car was because he ran a red light!!!The other car was in the right away GREEN Light. Quit trying to rationalize this, Matthew was careless, and people are suffering now because of it!

REGARDLESS of what "witnesses" (a.k.a. randomg people on blogs(a few of which have said specifically "it may not have been him but it was a car that looked like the one in the accident".)) are saying, the CALIFORNIA DMV shows no record of any traffic accidents, speeding violations, tickets, etc..

I tend to trust their information considering it is what will be admissible in court.

@"This is my cousin and he didn't do any "scrubbing" of his online persona" YES HE DID!
"first off. He probably shouldn't have been driving the way" (PROBABLY!) what are you like 2yrs old?
"he was but drugs/alcohol was not an issue-he's very smart"
More like VERY DUMB.
"congenial, and family oriented" Yeah well Bill was Family oriented too,and friends and stranger and community,but guess what your “smart cousin took that away!
"Things like this happen all the time and it's a shame that the best of us make mistakes like this but time will go on and soon enough another accident will happen and every one move on to judge that individual as if they were God much like what's happening now".
No one is judging him as if we were God we Judging him for what he did! There is a difference.
and not everyone will move on , not Bills Friends and family. Bill may have not meant anything to you but he did too many.

@Ken, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood.
How do you know that he has a “unblimished driving and criminal record, a college graduate and a loving son of proud parents" How Proud are his Parents NOW?
"Go ahead all you self-righteous hypocrite and bury this young man"
I think Matthew buried himself. I hope and Pray that Bills family get through this with a forgiving heart, and that Matthew shows remorse for taking the life of a family loved one.

p.s. the "witness" referred to earlier that claims they'd seen Matthew Pumar racing around the area numerous times in the past and complained about it previously.

They also happened to have the wrong description for "his" vehicle. They indicated it was "an Audi".

Matthew Pumar was the registered driver of a Volkswagon.

If you're going to believe something at least check to see if it's TRUE before crucifying someone for it...

It's a shame crucifixion isn't an option. Public crucifixion would keep people from driving like that.

Audi/Volkswagon It's really hard to tell when your driving by like the Bullect cal train!

They are one in the same company. VW/Audi share common chassis so it's easy to confuse the two. Especially when one has just blown by you and plowed into people and things.

Well, I googled (LOL, name becomes verb, you'd better let them do what they want), and my money hunch is correct. He was born into wealth.

And he deleted his Facebook account, probably AFTER the accident. Witnesses said that after he finished killing Mr. Ware and crashed into an immovable object, he got out of the car WITH HIS CELL PHONE IN HIS HAND and said, "Did I do that?"

If he wasn't on LSD, he might as well have been.

I wonder if the MVPD ran a drug test. If they didn't, they're negligent.

Looks like some of Matthew Pumars friends and family are finally coming forward.

We are reading this daily. Thank you for the support from the people of Mountain View who have been supporting us from the start of this trajedy, such as OLD BEN & OLD SAW, etc.

We appreciate it.
Dolores

The ware family was informed that Mr. Pumar was arrested in connection with the death of our brother.
While it is hard to verbalized how I feel as an individual or how the family feels collectively about the news, we are glad that the legal process is moving forward.

The Ware family would like to thank the MVPD for their efforts to complete their investigation in a timely and professional manner.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their outpouring of support for our family and thank the media for their unbiased reporting and respect for our family's privacy.

There are 2 families that are living through this tragic event.
We will continue to follow the case of this individual through the judicial process and are reluctant to make further statements that could compromise that process.

Bill will be missed by all those that knew and loved him.

Thanks,
Jim Ware & Family

The Ware family is too kind. The rest of us need to be assured that this will result in a judgement that will send a clear message about reckless driving.