Police bodycam footage released by the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department shows how the responding officer assessed the car accident involving tennis star Venus Williams and Linda and Jerome Barsons. Mr. Barsons died two weeks later as a result of injuries sustained in the crash, and Linda has claimed injuries as well. Williams is currently facing a wrongful death lawsuit that blames her for what happened. As you can see the video above, even the officer at the scene had a tough time with the tricky situation.
As Williams explained, she started crossing the intersection, but had to stop mid way when another car was turning. By the time she advanced further, the Barsons had the green light and ended up plowing into her.
“You kinda violated his right of way,” the officer told Williams, later saying, “You had the right of way but you kinda lost the right of way.”
The cop was very understanding of Williams’ situation, knowing that while technically she was to blame, it wasn’t necessarily fair to write her up for it. “I would say that you’re at fault in this crash, but I’m not citing you for the crash because I think you were just stuck in the middle of the intersection,” he said, as seen in the footage obtained by TMZ.
Ultimately, the officer said he wasn’t 100% sure what the right call was, so he did not charge Williams for the crash.
“You just got stuck in a bad situation there.”
[Image via screengrab]
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