Rashee Rice was driving the Lamborghini in the multivehicle crash in Dallas on Saturday night, the attorney for the Kansas City Chiefs star has confirmed.
Royce West faced reporters on Thursday afternoon and said the Super Bowl winner is fully cooperating with police who are investigating. He said he expects the Dallas District Attorney to file charges.
‘Mr. Rice acknowledged that he was driving the Lamborghini, that was the question that was asked,’ West said. ‘He responded to that. That he was driving the Lamborghini.
West said of the people caught up in the accident: ‘He’s (Rice) going to do everything in his power to bring their life back to as normal as possible in terms of injuries, in terms of property damage.
‘But for the grace of God, someone could have been injured, I mean, seriously injured. He understands that and appreciates it. That’s why he wanted to come out and say that he’s going to be responsible for making certain the victims are made whole as best possible
Rice’s Lamborghini collided with a Corvette on Saturday night that Dallas police suspected had been racing each other. Rice, and the others involved, fled the scene as soon as the accident occurred.
West also defended Rice’s character on Thursday amid intensifying media scrutiny.
‘Young man, 23 years old, never been involved in anything like this,’ he said. ‘He’s a young man that made a mistake.’
Rice published a statement on his Instagram page on Wednesday, his first comment since the collision, saying: ‘Today I met with Dallas PD investigators regarding Saturday’s accident.
‘I take full responsibility for my part in this matter and will continue to cooperate with the necessary authorities. I sincerely apologize to everyone impacted in Saturday’s accident.’
West also said that he has not spoke to the Chiefs organization since the crash.
Rice was leasing the Lamborghini from The Classic Lifestyle, said Kyle Coker, an attorney for the Dallas-based exotic car rental company.
He said that contractually, 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.
Police have said that the drivers of a Corvette and a Lamborghini were speeding in the far-left lane of North Central Expressway when they lost control.
The Lamborghini went onto the shoulder and hit the center median wall, causing a chain-reaction collision. Four people in the other vehicles were treated for minor injuries.
Rice, a member of the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs team, is from the Dallas area. He played for Southern Methodist University and grew up in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills.