DMV audit: Teen’s provisional license lapsed before fatal crash

The driver in a Memorial Day crash that killed five teens had an expired interim provisional license, according to a DMV audit.

That provisional license was the second the Department of Motor Vehicles had issued to Abdulrahman Alyahyan, 17, of Irvine, whose 2008 Infiniti crashed into a tree on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach.

Previous reports had a discrepancy between a ticket Irvine police issued to the teen that listed a driver’s license number and DMV representatives saying there was no record of him having a learner’s permit or license.

A DMV spokeswoman last week said that the teen’s full history wasn’t immediately available.

“The driving record printout that we got didn’t show the entire transaction history, which caused some confusion at first,” DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza wrote in an email. “This prompted us to do a full audit of the transaction history, which took a little time.”

Alyahyan was first issued a learner’s permit in January 2012, according to the DMV’s audit. That July he passed a behind-the-wheel driving test and received his first interim driver’s license good for 90 days while documents proving he was legally in the U.S. passed through the Department of Homeland Security.

In August, DHS denied Alyahyan clearance because documents proving his legal presence in the U.S. would expire in 60 days.

The following February he received the second interim provisional license good for another 90 days, while the documents proving his legal presence in the U.S. passed through DHS. That provisional license lapsed May 12, 15 days before the May 27 crash, according to the audit.

Mendoza wrote that DHS’ decision on Alyahan’s most recent license application was still pending.

About a month before the crash, Irvine police had issued Alyahyan a ticket for having a modified exhaust, having tinted windows that obstructed the driver’s view and violating the terms of his provisional license.

Also killed in the crash were Nozad Al Hamawendi, 17, Cecilia D. Zamora, 17, and sisters Robin Cabrera, 17, and Aurora Cabrera, 16. A memorial for the Cabreras is set for 11 a.m. Sunday.