Calif. official says he was driver in crash that killed teen

KCRA reported that the crash took area in Rocklin on Lonetree Boulevard and Adams Push, adjacent to the Blue Oaks City Middle shopping mall. Williams, a university student and basketball player at Inderkum Large, was going for walks on the street when he was struck by Leopold. Police stated at the time that the driver was cooperating with the investigation, the information station said.

“My phrases and emotions can not sufficiently specific my profound grief and sadness,” Leopold explained in a push launch. “I am heartbroken for the reduction of this youthful person and lengthen my honest condolences to Mr. Williams’ household, close friends, and all of those people impacted by this tragic accident.”

But in the months just after Williams’ death, KXTV reviews, his family and close friends — as well as an activist group — have been significant of the police’s investigation, discouraged in unique about the just about 2-thirty day period length of their investigation and their failure to determine Leopold immediately after the incident. 

Allegations that Leopold was the driver in the motor vehicle that killed Williams swirled all-around the community as much back again as April 23, when a neighborhood member leveled the allegation in opposition to the law enforcement in a comment on the department’s Facebook web page, as 1st described by the Sacramento Bee.

Rocklin police nevertheless have however to publicly identify Leopold as the driver — and, next a police investigation, “determined that the driver is not at fault,” reported the department in a assertion.

The section has also been largely obstinate in delivering facts surrounding the crash to information corporations. Several media outlets, like the Sacramento Bee and KCRA, were denied copies of the accident report irrespective of submitting general public data requests. 

Leopold mentioned in his assertion he did not want to phase ahead previously because he “did not want to be perceived, in any way, as trying to impact the end result of the Rocklin Police Department’s investigation.”

In light of Leopold’s statement, the Placer County District Attorney’s Business office is conducting its very own critique of the crash.

“We comprehend and respect the public’s interest in this incident and will perform diligently to make our results readily available in a timely way,” the district attorney’s assertion to media outlets mentioned. “However, individuals right associated in the incident and their relatives and future of kin will have to have the chance to get and procedure this facts prior to it is made accessible to the community.”

The Connected Push contributed to this report.