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

Soon after months of speculation, a Northern California county formal verified that he was the driver of the car that killed an 18-yr-previous high college scholar in March.

Todd Leopold, Placer County’s county government officer, confessed in a news release Could 13 that he was liable for the motor vehicle crash that killed 18-calendar year-outdated Anthony Williams on March 19. 

KCRA claimed that the crash took position in Rocklin on Lonetree Boulevard and Adams Travel, adjacent to the Blue Oaks Town Middle shopping mall. Williams, a scholar and basketball player at Inderkum Substantial, was walking on the road when he was struck by Leopold. Law enforcement explained at the time that the driver was cooperating with the investigation, the information station mentioned.

“My words and phrases and thoughts cannot sufficiently specific my profound grief and disappointment,” Leopold said in a push launch. “I am heartbroken for the reduction of this young gentleman and prolong my honest condolences to Mr. Williams’ household, mates, and all of those people impacted by this tragic incident.”

But in the weeks soon after Williams’ dying, KXTV experiences, his family and pals — as well as an activist team — have been critical of the police’s investigation, discouraged in unique about the approximately 2-month period of their investigation and their failure to discover Leopold after the incident. 

Allegations that Leopold was the driver in the automobile that killed Williams swirled all over the community as much back as April 23, when a neighborhood member leveled the allegation versus the police in a comment on the department’s Fb web page, as first documented by the Sacramento Bee.

Rocklin police nevertheless have nevertheless to publicly discover Leopold as the driver — and, following a police investigation, “determined that the driver is not at fault,” mentioned the department in a statement.


The division has also been largely obstinate in offering facts surrounding the crash to news corporations. Multiple media stores, which include the Sacramento Bee and KCRA, have been denied copies of the incident report in spite of filing general public documents requests. 

Leopold reported in his assertion he did not want to step ahead previously due to the fact he “did not want to be perceived, in any way, as making an attempt to impact the end result of the Rocklin Police Department’s investigation.”

In light of Leopold’s statement, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office is conducting its personal evaluation of the crash.

“We comprehend and appreciate the public’s interest in this incident and will operate diligently to make our findings available in a well timed way,” the district attorney’s assertion to media shops claimed. “However, individuals directly concerned in the incident and their household and up coming of kin should have the opportunity to obtain and method this information prior to it is built readily available to the community.”

The Connected Press contributed to this report.