By Kelli Smith and Calvin Watkins
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice issued his first statement through a legal representative Monday about the six-vehicle collision in Dallas this weekend that police believe may have involved him.
State Sen. Royce West, an attorney representing Rice, said the NFL player’s “thoughts are with everyone impacted by the automobile accident.”
“Rashee is cooperating with local authorities and will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly,” West said in a written statement to The Dallas Morning News on Monday afternoon.
After the statement was released, Dallas police spokesperson Kristin Lowman confirmed the department has “spoken with members of legal counsel,” but she said officials “have not conducted interviews with potentially involved individuals in Saturday’s crash.”
“Again, anyone with information on the crash, anyone at the scene, witnessed the crash — contact Dallas Police,” she added.
Rice has not spoken out publicly since The News broke the story Sunday that Dallas police were seeking to speak with him in connection with a hit-and-run Saturday at about 6:20 p.m. in the 6600 block of North Central Expressway. A vehicle believed to be connected to Rice was involved, law enforcement officials told The News.
A police call sheet obtained by The News confirmed that law enforcement was searching for Rice — a former Richland High School and SMU star — in connection with the accident.
His alleged involvement in the crash is unclear. Lowman said this weekend that the preliminary investigation determined a driver in a Chevrolet Corvette and a driver in a Lamborghini were speeding in the far left lane, near University Boulevard, where both lost control of their vehicles.
Lowman said the Lamborghini traveled onto the shoulder and “hit the center median wall, causing a chain reaction collision involving four other vehicles.” The occupants of both the Lamborghini and the Corvette left the crash site on foot without stopping to see if anyone needed medical help or providing any of their information, Lowman said.
Lowman did not release any updates Monday about the crash, which injured four people and left multiple vehicles damaged. She said the “investigation continues,” and suspects have not been officially identified by police yet.
Two people were treated at the crash site, and two others were taken to a hospital for minor injures, Lowman has said.
Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan urged patience Monday as officials work to gather information.
“In all these situations you have to wait until you have all the facts and frankly, we don’t have all the facts at this point,” Donovan told KCMO Talk Radio during a morning interview.
“The one comforting fact that we do have is that there was a multicar crash in Texas, in Dallas, and fortunately, it doesn’t appear that anyone was hurt and we should be grateful for that,” Donovan told the outlet. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, we’ll gather the facts and we’ll react accordingly.”
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Dallas police Det. Kenneth Watson at kenneth.watson@dallaspolice.gov.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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