High-speed Rail CEO arrested on suspicion of battery: reports

FOLSOM – Ian Choudri, the CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor battery earlier this month in Folsom, according to media reports.

Choudri, 57, and his fiancée, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, 46, were taken into custody following a domestic disturbance at their home on Feb. 4, the Sacramento Bee reported.

They were booked and released at the Sacramento County Main Jail in downtown Sacramento.

Allen Sawyer, an attorney for Choudri and Starostyuk, said in a statement to KCRA that “the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office immediately declined to file charges when an incident report was forwarded to them by the Folsom Police Department.

“Mr. Choudri was never asked to appear in court and this matter is over,” Sawyer said.

The arrest came a day after Choudri appeared with Gov. Gavin Newsom to celebrate the completion of the Southern Railhead facility in Kern County, KCRA reported.

Police dispatch recordings reviewed by the Bee revealed officers were called to the residence for a fight between Starostyuk and Choudri’s 17-year-old daughter, with the former pulling the latter’s hair and locking her out of the house. Choudri, Starostyuk and the teen were all outside the home when officers arrived, the Bee reported.

Choudri took over as CEO of the rail authority in August 2024 and has pushed to extend the 171-mile stretch currently underway in the Central Valley to population centers in Northern and Southern California, this news organization previously reported.

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