Kansas City Chiefs player Rashee Rice‘s attorney said Thursday that the wide receiver was one of the drivers of two speeding sports cars that caused a chain-reaction crash on a Dallas highway over the weekend and then left the scene.
Rice’s attorney, state Sen. Royce West, said during a news conference that why Rice left the scene of Saturday’s crash was “a good question that’s still being investigated” but he declined to elaborate. He said at the news conference, which wasn’t attended by Rice, that he expected charges to be filed against Rice, who he said was driving the Lamborghini sport utility vehicle that was involved in the crash.
“He’s a young man that made a mistake,” West said Thursday, adding that Rice’s “heart goes out” to those who were injured.
Police said following the crash that they were searching for the drivers of the Lamborghini and Corvette that caused the wreck, which police say involved a total of six vehicles and caused minor injuries to four people in the other cars. Police said the drivers of the Lamborghini and Corvette left the scene without determining whether anyone needed medical attention or providing their information.
Neither West nor Rice had publicly acknowledged Rice was one of the drivers until Thursday. West, who issued a statement Monday saying Rice was cooperating with authorities, said that they reached out to police Sunday evening. Rice said in a statement Wednesday posted to his Instagram Story that he was taking “full responsibility” for his part in the wreck.
Police have said the drivers of the Corvette and Lamborghini were speeding in the far-left lane when they lost control and the Lamborghini traveled onto the shoulder and hit the center median wall, causing the chain collision.
West said that Rice, who is 23, will “do everything in his power to bring their life back to as normal as possible in terms of injuries, in terms of property damage.”
West’s office said after the news conference that the Corvette that was involved in the crash belongs to Rice. No information has been released on the driver of that vehicle.
Dallas police have confirmed they have spoken with Rice and his attorney. Police said Thursday that the investigation into the crash is continuing, along with interviews with witnesses, victims and others who may have been involved.
“Our detectives are working to determine exactly what happened, who was involved and how,” police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said in an email.
Rice was leasing the Lamborghini from The Classic Lifestyle, said Kyle Coker, an attorney for the Dallas-based exotic car rental company. Under the terms of the lease, Rice would have been the only person allowed to drive the vehicle, which rents for about $1,750 a day and is worth about $250,000.
Rice was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fort Worth, Texas, suburb of North Richland Hills. He played college football at nearby SMU, where a breakout senior season in 2022 put the wide receiver on the radar of NFL teams.
The Chiefs selected him in the second round of last year’s draft, and he quickly became one of the only dependable options in their passing game. With exceptional quickness off the line of scrimmage, Rice finished second on the team to Travis Kelce with 73 receptions for 938 yards while leading the Chiefs with seven touchdown receptions.
Rice may have been even better in the playoffs. He had 26 catches for 262 yards and a touchdown, including six catches for 39 yards against San Francisco in the Super Bowl, helping the Chiefs win their third Lombardi Trophy in five years.
Source: www.espn.com