Former world No.1 Venus Williams has been found at fault of a car crash that resulted in the death of a 78-year-old man in America according to police files.
The incident happened on June 9th in West Palm Beach, Florida. In the report, first obtained by American website TMZ, the crash happened when an SUV driven by Williams was sticking out at an intersection. As a consequence, the driver of the other vehicle had no time to stop and t-boned Williams’ car.
Following the crash, two people went to hospital. The female driver of the car which went into Williams’ SUV and her husband. The women suffered broken bones as well as other injuries, according to her attorney Michael Stringer. Meanwhile, her husband has now succumbed to his injury two weeks later. Jerome Barson was in ICU after suffering head injuries in the crash.
“[Venus] is at fault for violating the right of way of [the other driver],” the police report concluded.
According to TMZ, Williams told the police that she tried to go through the intersection, but was slowed down by traffic. As a result, the crash occurred. It is understood that the 37-year-old was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was not distracted by any electronic devices.
According to court records, Williams has previously had two traffic offences. In 2011 she was issued a $116 fine for driving without proof of license. This fine was increased to $136 after she failed to pay on time. Then in 2013 she was penalised for ‘driving unknowingly with a suspended or revoked driving licence.’ According to heavy.com, she was issued the $166 following a car crash on July 3rd 2013. It is unknown if Williams’ was at fault of that crash or not.
Williams is set to return to action next week at Wimbledon for the 20th time in her career. This year she will be seeded 10th in the women’s draw.
UPDATE
Williams’ attorney has now released a brief statement concerning the crash in which he described the incident as a ‘unfortunate accident.’
“Ms. Williams entered the intersection on a green light,” lawyer Malcolm Cunningham said.
“The police report estimates that Ms Williams was travelling at 5mph (8km/h) when Mr Barson crashed into her. Authorities did not issue Ms Williams with any citations or traffic violations.”
Cunningham added: “This is an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”
