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California high-speed rail chief takes leave after arrest over domestic violence allegations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The top official at a California agency running the state’s long-delayed bullet train project is taking a leave of absence after he was arrested earlier this month over allegations of domestic violence, although prosecutors say they aren’t pressing charges.

The events bring further unwanted attention to the nation’s largest infrastructure project, which was already under scrutiny for holdups and skyrocketing costs and saw its federal funding cut by the Trump administration last year.

Ian Choudri was tasked in 2024 with reinvigorating the project as CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority after working on similar systems in Europe. California voters initially approved $10 billion in bonds in 2008 to cover about a third of the cost. The link between San Francisco to Los Angeles was supposed to be finished by 2020, but officials now say it could cost more than $120 billion and that just the Central Valley section could open by 2032.

Choudri was arrested Feb. 4 in the city of Folsom, outside Sacramento, police Lt. Lou Wright said. The Folsom Police Department offered no additional details about what happened.

There wasn’t enough evidence to file charges against Choudri, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said, after law enforcement arrested him and his fiancee but didn’t find injuries on either person.

“Our office takes all allegations of domestic violence incredibly seriously,” it said in a statement, “regardless of who the suspect is or what position they hold in our community.”

Choudri chose to take “a few days” away from his job, according to his attorney, who emphasized that prosecutors haven’t asked him to appear in court.

“While my client appreciates that this legal matter has been thoroughly evaluated, his family needs time to privately process and heal,” Allen Sawyer said in a statement. “He remains committed to his work, and this short absence will also give the board space to independently review the conclusions of the legal process.”

Choudri’s leave will allow the rail authority and state transportation agency to review what happened, an authority spokesperson said in a statement.

“We are taking this matter seriously, consistent with our longstanding commitment to public responsibility, transparency, and accountability,” they said, adding that the authority’s work would continue without interruption.

Choudri’s arrest came to light this week after KCRA-TV in Sacramento first reported it.

He told The Associated Press last year that he wanted to get involved with California’s high-speed rail project to “completely turn it around” and stabilize its funding. He’s been trying to partner with the private sector to help fund the project.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers last year approved $1 billion annually for the project through 2045 from revenues the state receives from its cap-and-trade program, which aims to reducing planet-warming pollution from large emitters.

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Associated Press writer Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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