VENUS Williams has been officially cleared by Palm Beach Gardens Police over a fatal car crash in June.
A report released by Palm Beach Gardens Police finds that Williams — as well as the other two drivers involved — were not at fault.
The report confirms no charges will be laid over the collision which ultimately led to the death of 78-year-old passenger Jerome Barson.
A civil lawsuit over a wrongful death claim filed against Williams by the Barson family remains ongoing.
However, the police reports clears Williams of any wrongdoing in the crash.
Barson was fatally injured when the car he was in collided with Williams after her car had become stranded in the middle of an intersection when an unknown “dark car” reportedly cut her off moments before the light went red.
The report shows police at the scene found no fault against Williams, who entered the intersection when the light was green.
“The unknown dark-coloured vehicle started a sequence of events resulting in [Barson] crashing into [Williams],” the report said.
The report also reveals a conversation Williams had with an officer at the scene in which he says the tennis star simply got “stuck in a bad situation”.
“I was caught in the middle. I never saw that car coming,” Williams is quoted telling the officer, according to the report.
The officer responded by telling the 37-year-old she had right of way.
“You got stuck in a bad situation,” he said.
“I’m not giving you a citation, because I don’t feel comfortable writing a citation when I’m not 100 perc ent sure. And I’m not 100 per cent sure in this case, because you had the right of way but lost the right of way.”
A lawyer acting on the behalf of the Barson family in their ongoing civil case responded to the release of the report by declaring he remains confident of proving their accusation of wrongful death against Williams.
“Palm Beach Gardens Police Department’s new report is incorrect — Ms. Williams clearly violated our clients right of way because our client had a green light, as indicated in each and every police reports issued in this case to date,” the family lawyer said in a statement.
“The report is further inaccurate because the video surveillance does not indicate the colour of Ms. Williams light and therefore does not support the police departments conclusion.
“Despite the flawed police department report the Barson’s claims against Ms. Williams are still very much valid, although Ms. Williams will receive no criminal charges we are confident that The Barson civil claims will prevail in court.”
Traffic camera footage of the incident emerged before Williams returned to tennis in the 2017 Wimbledon championships.
The footage appeared to support Williams’ claim that she was blindsided by the dark car that blocked her path to the other side of the intersection.
A statement from police said the video, taken from the entrance to the gated community where Williams lives, indicates she acted lawfully in entering the intersection before the crash.
The Sun Sentinel reports the surveillance footage shows Williams was cut off by a left-turning Nissan Altima as her Sporting Utility Vehicle (SUV) passed through the intersection, causing her to stop momentarily.
Williams broke down when asked about the civil lawsuit accusations in her first press conference at Wimbledon in July where she broke down crying and had to leave the room.
“There are really no words to describe, like, how devastating,” she said before she began choking up in the middle of the sentence.
“Yeah, I’m completely speechless,” she briefly continued.
Barson died of the injuries he suffered in the accident 13 days later.
He suffered pelvic fractures, spinal fractures and lacerations to his spleen and eventually developed multi-organ failure, according to the autopsy report.
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