WATCH: KC Chiefs’ Rashee Rice was driving Lamborghini in Dallas crash, lawyer says
Rashee Rice’s attorney says the Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receiver was driving the Lamborghini involved in Saturday’s hit-and-run car crash that injured several people in Dallas.
Attorney Royce West spoke with the media for about 16 minutes at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
West said the NFL player will continue to cooperate with the police investigation and has responded to every question asked of him. Rice’s priority now is making sure the victims of the crash are “made whole as best as possible,” including taking care of their injuries and property damage, West said. He said he still needs to verify the extent of those injuries and damage.
The attorney declined to answer a reporter’s question about why Rice and others with him left the scene of the crash. West, who is also a Texas state senator, repeated several times that Rice’s life and career shouldn’t be defined by this incident, which he called a mistake.
“Here you have a young man, 23 years old, never been involved in anything like this,” West said. “People were injured, his heart goes out to them, and he’s watching his whole life play out in the media … and then his career also, but basically his whole life. Again, don’t judge him just based on this incident.”
No criminal charges have been announced, but West said he expects authorities to file charges against Rice soon.
Rice has reached out to some of the victims and may speak publicly about the crash sometime in the next week, West said. He understands the severity of the accident and that it could have been much worse, the attorney said.
“But for the grace of God, someone could have been injured — I mean seriously injured,” West said. “He understands that. He appreciates it. That’s why he wanted to come out and say that he’s going to be responsible for making certain that the victims are made whole.”
Marc Lenahan, an attorney representing one woman injured in the crash, told the Star-Telegram he trusts West intends to follow through on the promise to make the victims whole, at least to the best of Rice’s ability.
Exemplary damages, which in lawsuits are meant to discourage others from taking similar actions, typically have a legal limit. But there are some cases where that limit doesn’t apply.
Lenahan said that criminal charges of aggravated assault or, if police find that alcohol came into play, intoxication assault, could mean that lawsuits become too expensive for Rice to pay. Injuries to children also would eliminate the statutory limits for exemplary damages, he said.
Lenahan also said he agrees with West that Rice shouldn’t be judged as a person based on the crash.
“I was an idiot until I was about 28,” Lenahan said.
In a statement he shared on his Instagram story Wednesday, Rice said he met with Dallas police and is cooperating with investigators.
Rice, who grew up in North Richland Hills and played football for SMU and Richland High School, said in Wednesday’s statement that he takes responsibility for his actions related to the crash, though he did not at that time specify what his involvement was.
“I take full responsibility for my part in this matter and will continue to cooperate with the necessary authorities,” Rice wrote in the statement. “I sincerely apologize to everyone impacted in Saturday’s accident.”
The Saturday crash on North Central Expressway injured four people, sending two of them to the hospital, according to police.
Dallas police said two vehicles, a Lamborghini Urus and a Chevrolet Corvette, were apparently racing down North Central Expressway. The driver of the Lamborghini — now confirmed to be Rice — lost control on the left shoulder and hit the median wall and both sports cars swerved out into traffic, causing a chain-reaction crash that damaged four other vehicles, police have said.
Authorities have not said who was driving the Corvette.
Police said everyone in the two cars that were speeding got out and walked on the highway to leave the scene. They didn’t stop to check if anybody was injured or provide insurance information. Video from the scene shows several men walking away with Rice.
Dallas police have not released any other details. A police spokesperson told the Star-Telegram in an email Thursday that investigators are still interviewing witnesses, victims and other people who may have been involved with the crash.
“Our detectives are working to determine exactly what happened, who was involved, and how,” the spokesperson wrote in the email. “As always, our top priority is to complete a thorough and fair investigation, which is what all victims deserve.”
Media reports have linked the crash to Rice through the vehicles. The Lamborghini was rented to him by a luxury car rental company in Dallas, Classic Lifestyle, and the Corvette was registered to him, according to a police document.
The Star-Telegram has filed open records requests for copies of the police report, crash report, call sheet and any search warrants in the case.
Several of the injured people have retained lawyers.
Wednesday’s statement was the second released from Rice. The first, shared via his attorney on Monday, said he was cooperating with authorities and was keeping those impacted by the crash in his thoughts.
This story was originally published April 4, 2024 at 12:00 PM.