Nextdoor CEO Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail for Hit-And-Run
Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia plead down a felony hit-and-run charge to a misdemeanor yesterday in court, receiving an immediate sentence of 30 days in county jail.
The original felony charge alleged he fled the scene of an accident he caused while attempting to overtake another vehicle with his BMW X5 on 101 outside of San Francisco. He plead no contest to the reduce charges.
However, it seems likely Tolia will be able to avoid jail thanks to his good standing in the community, reports Forbes.
Instead, he'll complete the 30-day sentence through a weekend work program, where he will "put in eight- or 10-hour days doing paper pickups, washing school graffiti," said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Tolia's charge was reduced because of Tolia's background and his side of the story, Wagstaffe said.
"His defense attorneys gave us a full background on what this guy is, what he's done, how he's a pretty community-oriented person, and that's something," Wagstaffe said. "And his description of what occurred … He didn't know he had a duty to call in, as opposed to someone who said, 'I knew I screwed up and was trying to get away.'"
The notion that the CEO of Nextdoor was blamelessly unaware of his neighborly duty after a car accident is a pretty hard sell. Tolia has a lengthy history of lawsuits, including one for defrauding former business partners. In the court documents for a trademark suit, Tolia is even quoted calling himself "an angry driver." The road rage admission was in the context of explaining how services like Nextdoor make it harder to be "nasty," and force you to become a better neighbor.
[Photo: Getty]