High-Speed Rail CEO arrested in Folsom hours after event with Gov. Gavin Newsom

The CEO of the embattled California High-Speed Rail Authority was one of two people arrested this month at his Folsom home following an alleged domestic disturbance between his fiancee and his daughter, hours after appearing beside Gov. Gavin Newsom at a rail event in Kern County.According to Folsom police logs, Ian Choudri, 57, was arrested just after midnight Feb. 4 after officers were called to his home. Police said officers responded to the residence and took Choudri and his fiancée, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, 46, into custody on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. A spokesperson for the Folsom Police Department confirmed the arrest and said both were booked and released from the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown.Allen Sawyer, an attorney for Choudri and Starostyuk, said the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office “immediately” declined to file charges after Folsom police forwarded the incident.“Mr. Choudri was never asked to appear in court,” Sawyer said in an email Monday night. He added that “this matter is over and no further action will be taken.”According to dispatch recordings reviewed by The Sacramento Bee, Choudri was arrested after officers were called to the home for an alleged fight between Starostyuk and Choudri’s 17-year-old daughter. Dispatchers relayed to officers that Starostyuk had “pulled her hair and pushed her” before locking her out of the house. It was not clear who made the call to 911, but all three residents were outside the home when police arrived.Choudri and Starostyuk, a former professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The police spokesperson said the department does not comment on specifics of arrests, referring further questions to the DA’s Office.California High Speed Rail CEO Ian Choudri is interviewed by the California McClatchy Editorial Board Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Fresno.“The High-Speed Rail Authority is aware of the matter and is reviewing it,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement Monday night.The arrest occurred hours after Choudri appeared with Gov. Gavin Newsom at a High-Speed Rail Authority facility in Kern County, where the governor touted progress on the long-delayed project and criticized the Trump administration’s decision to pull $4 billion in federal funding.Newsom’s office referred a request for comment to the High Speed Rail Authority.Choudri joined Newsom that day to announce the completion of the authority’s 150-acre railhead facility near Shafter, which will serve as a staging area for track construction in the Southern San Joaquin Valley.Choudri was appointed CEO by the authority’s board of directors in August 2024. According to previous Bee reporting, he previously worked on large-scale construction projects in more than 18 countries.The Governor’s Office, in a statement Monday night, referred questions about Choudri to the rail authority.