It is becoming increasingly evident that the Tallahassee Police Department and Florida State University continues to sweep incidents under the rug in order for the Seminole football program to field a full roster.
This latest report comes from the New York Times and tells us a story of corruption and widespread misconduct from both the police department and the school.
It surrounds an incident that took place back in October in which Florida State cornerback (and likely 2015 first round pick) P.J. Williams drove his car into the path of a teenager who was returning home from work. The big deal here is that Williams fled the scene of the accident, which is a crime.
In the early-morning hours of Oct. 5, as this college town was celebrating another big football victory by Florida State University, a starting cornerback on the team drove his car into the path of an oncoming vehicle driven by a teenager returning home from a job at the Olive Garden.
Both cars were totaled. But rather than remain at the scene as the law requires, the football player, P. J. Williams, left his wrecked vehicle in the street and fled into the darkness along with his two passengers, including Ronald Darby, the team’s other starting cornerback.
The Tallahassee Police Department responded to the incident and reached out to campus police and the athletic department. After initially treating the accident as a hit and run, authorities decided to give Williams, who was driving with a suspended license, two traffic tickets.
After the tickets were issued, the case did not show up on the city’s online database of police calls, which the police indicated was a technical glitch.
While Williams did eventually return to the scene, police did not test him for alcohol, which would have made sense considering the accident occurred at nearly 3 am in the morning. According to the Times report, police also minimized the damage to the other man’s car, failing to report that his airbag had deployed, causing injuries to his hands.
This is yet another example of widespread corruption between local police and Florida State’s athletic department. And while not as serious as rape allegations (see Jameis Winston), it tells us a story of a school that is hell-bent on winning at all cost.
Read the entire New York Times report here.
Photo: ESPN.com