Couple injured in Dallas car crash with ties to KC Chiefs’ Rashee Rice retains attorney

A Dallas couple injured this weekend in a hit-and-run collision that police believe may involve NFL wide receiver Rashee Rice is considering their legal options as they try to recover, their attorney says.

Tennessee Walker, managing litigation partner at Patterson Law Group, told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that his two clients were on their way to a friend’s 50th birthday party when two luxury vehicles slammed into their white Lexus. Their SUV spun across the roadway until it hit the wall of the highway.

The couple — who Walker said didn’t want to be publicly named but have been married about 14 years — was taken to a hospital after the multivehicle crash, and both are now recovering at their home.

“They’re angry at the situation,” Walker said in an interview. “From our perspective and their perspective, it doesn’t really matter who the people are but just the human decency element of it — the decent thing to do is to make sure that no one is harmed and comply with your legal obligations.”

The News broke the story Sunday that Dallas police were seeking to speak with Rice — a Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver and former Richland High School and SMU star — in connection with the six-vehicle collision Saturday at about 6:20 p.m. in the 6600 block of North Central Expressway.

A vehicle believed to be connected to Rice was involved, law enforcement officials told The News. His alleged involvement in the crash is unclear. A police call sheet obtained by The News confirmed law enforcement was searching for Rice, who was listed as the suspected driver of one of the vehicles.

Dallas police officials have not yet officially identified any suspects.

Through his attorney State Sen. Royce West, Rice said in a public statement Monday that his “thoughts are with everyone impacted by the automobile accident.” West said he’s “cooperating with local authorities and will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly.” The NFL said it’s monitoring the situation.

Police spokesperson Kristin Lowman has said a driver in a Chevrolet Corvette and a driver in a Lamborghini were speeding in the far left lane, near University Boulevard, where both lost control. The Lamborghini traveled onto the shoulder and “hit the center median wall, causing a chain reaction collision involving four other vehicles.”

The occupants of the Lamborghini and the Corvette left the crash site on foot without stopping to see if anyone needed medical help or providing any of their information, Lowman said. The crash injured at least four people and left multiple vehicles damaged, Lowman said.

Walker said his clients — a 46-year-old woman and 42-year-old man who reside in Dallas — aren’t seeking the limelight and the case has been “frustrating on several levels.”

“It’s a difficult position for a victim to be put in when the circumstances involve a public figure and there’s just an additional level of stress and anxiety,” Walker said.

“They’re primarily focused on dealing with their injuries, but on top of that, not having all the information that should be provided to them at the scene of the incident or provided to authorities to get to them, it complicates life, in addition to just dealing with the physical and mental injuries.”

The crash

According to Walker, the couple recalled how in the moments before the crash the woman glanced into her rear view window and screamed as she saw two vehicles hurtling toward them at a rapid pace.

Dash-camera footage provided to The News by another motorist shows when a black Corvette crashes into a Lexus, spinning it to the left before the Corvette collides with the right shoulder wall and comes to a stop.

Walker said the man he represents was trapped on his side of the car and saw his wife slightly slumped over the center console with blood coming from the left side of her face. He tried to tend to her, then climbed out of the vehicle from the backseat. By that point, the drivers and passengers from the luxury cars were walking away, Walker said.

Video obtained by The News shows five men walking away as people stranded on the highway ask them where they’re going and if they’re OK.

Walker said emergency responders extracted the woman from the Lexus and took the couple to a hospital, where both were admitted. The woman has a “significant laceration” above her left eye that required multiple stitches in her eyelid, which is still swollen and bruised, Walker said. Her right leg and ankle were also swollen and bruised.

He said she was discharged from the hospital with a boot by the next day and has been on bed rest while waiting for follow-up imaging and treatment. The man and woman have post-concussion symptoms — “extreme light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, headaches” — which have made it hard for them to return to their routine, Walker said.

Their car was impounded, he added.

Walker said he’s gathering information about the couples’ injuries and the crash, noting that part of the problem with the people leaving their luxury cars is they don’t have insurance information or other key details. He said he doesn’t yet know the extent of the couple’s medical treatment; they have further imaging and appointments scheduled.

“There’s still a bit of a waiting period,” Walker said, noting they’re also awaiting developments in the criminal case.

He said whether his office will file a lawsuit or it will come to a resolution with those involved is “to be determined,” but if deemed necessary to compensate them fairly and reasonably, a lawsuit is “likely.”

Authorities have been in contact with the couple and they’re cooperating, Walker said.

“My hope is that we’ll have a much clearer picture very soon confirming exactly who was in the drivers’ seats of the vehicles that were responsible,” he said. “That should pave the way for prosecution both of civil and criminal claims.”

Other victims

Other people who said they were victims have also spoken out, including Kayla Quinn, a 27-year-old who told The News she and her 4-year-old son were shaken up by the collision, which left their Hyundai Accent “un-drivable.”

Another attorney — Marc Lenahan — told The News this weekend that he’s representing a separate victim who was in an Uber that was T-boned. He said he’s also gathering information about the crash.

“It is terrible, but it is not surprising,” Lenahan said. “Everybody in D-FW knows that part of Dallas is a magnet for joyriding.”

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Dallas police Detective Kenneth Watson at kenneth.watson@dallaspolice.gov.

Staff writer Calvin Watkins contributed to this report.