Officer told Venus she caused crash
A police officer told tennis star Venus Williams she likely caused a crash that fatally injured an elderly man last month but didn’t cite her, saying it appeared the actions of a third driver left her in a bad spot, a newly released body camera video shows.
Security video released earlier showed Williams was driving straight on a green light as she exited her neighborhood but a car turning left cut her off, forcing her to stop midway as she crossed a busy six-lane intersection. When she restarted, her light had turned red. A Hyundai sedan plowed into Williams’ Toyota Sequoia SUV.
“You had a green light, so you had the right of way when you started to exit but because you got stuck in the middle of the intersection, you lost that right of way,” Officer David Dowling, lead investigator with the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., police, tells Williams in the body camera video released late Thursday. The driver of the Hyundai, he says, now had a green light “and had no way of knowing that you were going to come across.”
Williams asks, “In a situation like that, what do you do? Because you can’t back up.”
“Exactly,” Dowling replies. “You just got stuck in a bad situation there. I would just let the insurance companies work it out. I am not giving you a citation.”
Palm Beach Gardens police now say the investigation remains open and no fault has been assigned.
Second-seeded John Isner beat Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-4 to reach the BB&T Atlanta Open semifinals. Seeking his fourth Atlanta title in five seasons, Isner will face third-seeded Gilles Muller, who beat Tommy Paul 6-3, 6-1.
Isner won the Hall of Fame Open on Sunday in Newport, R.I., for his 11th career title — all at the ATP World Tour 250 level.
Fifth-seeded Kyle Edmund beat top-seeded Jack Sock 6-4, 6-1 in the night match. Edmund will face fourth-seeded Ryan Harrison, a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Christopher Eubanks.