A Dallas Police Department crash report obtained by NBC 5 Investigates details the chain-reaction series of events that, investigators say, triggered the multi-vehicle freeway car crash involving Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice and SMU defensive back Teddy Knox that injured at least four people.
In the report narrative, Dallas police said Rice was driving a Lamborghini on the left-hand shoulder of the road when the vehicle was struck by a Corvette driven by Knox as he attempted to move from the far-left lane into the shoulder that Rice’s car occupied. The report said the initial impact caused Rice’s vehicle, described in the report as “Unit #1,” to collide with the center median wall. It said that Unit #1 then began a “counterclockwise rotation” which caused the car to collide with a third vehicle.
Rice’s car then spun clockwise, according to the report, hitting another vehicle and then continued to rotate until coming to rest in the right middle lane.
The report, which offers the most detailed description of the crash events from police to date, also said that investigators obtained a search warrant to download data from event data recorders onboard both Rice and Knox’s vehicles and that the data revealed both cars were traveling above 115 mph before the crash.
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“The top speed prior to impact for unit #1 (Rice) was 119 miles per hour and the top speed for unit #2 (Knox) was 116 miles per hour”, the crash report said.
The alleged speeds for Rice’s car were previously reported, detailed in arrest warrant affidavits obtained by NBC 5’s partners at The Dallas Morning News. A warrant affidavit for Knox, obtained by NBC 5 said that Knox’s speed was 116 mph 7.5 seconds before the crash and still 91 mph about one second before impact. The affidavit said Rice’s car was at 119 mph 4.5 seconds before the crash.
The new police report listed several “contributing factors” to the crash including speeding above the limit for both Rice and Knox’s vehicles. It said Knox’s vehicle changing lanes when unsafe and Rice’s driving on the shoulder of the road were also contributing factors.
A crash diagram drawn by police in the report shows a spaghetti-bowl-like series of lines across the highway illustrating how cars spun and ricocheted off each other after the initial impact that authorities said triggered the crash.
NBC 5 reached out to attorneys for Rice and Knox to ask for comment on the new report. Texas Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who is representing Rice, said they were aware the report was released but had no comment on the ongoing legal matter. Deandra Grant, an attorney representing Knox, has not yet responded.
Both Rice and Knox were arrested on initial charges of one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injury in connection with the crash on March 30.
Knox and Rice have previously said through attorneys that they are cooperating with authorities in the investigation, and in a statement posted on social media Rice has apologized to people impacted by the crash.
The crash report lists four other cars involved in the collision with eight occupants ranging from ages 3 to 54.
NBC 5 Investigates obtained the report after police uploaded it to the state’s crash reporting system maintained by TxDOT. In the report, investigators note that it is still incomplete pending the continuing investigation.
