Chiefs’ Rice sentenced to 30 days in jail, probation over high-speed crash

DALLAS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Thursday after authorities said he and another speeding driver caused a chain-reaction crash that left multiple people injured on a Dallas highway last year.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office said Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury in the March 30, 2024, crash. As part of a plea agreement, Rice was sentenced to five years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation, prosecutors said.

The judge will allow Rice, 25, to find a time or times to serve the jail sentence, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors said he was also required to pay the victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses, which totaled about $115,000.

Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph (191 kph) when he made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck other vehicles, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said that after the crash on North Central Expressway, Rice failed to check on the welfare of those in the other vehicles and fled on foot.

The news release from prosecutors included a statement from Rice that was released by his attorney. Rice said in the statement that he’s had “a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages that my actions caused, and I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole.”

“I am profoundly sorry for the physical damages to person and property,” Rice said in the statement. “I fully apologize for the harm I caused to innocent drivers and their families.”

Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of communication, said in a statement, “We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review.”

The Chiefs said Thursday that they did not have a comment.

Rice was leasing the Lamborghini that police said was speeding along with a Corvette when the crash occurred. Rice’s attorney has said that the Corvette belonged to Rice. The driver of the Corvette, who police said also left the scene, was also charged in the crash. The status of that case was not immediately clear on Thursday.

Rice, a member of the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs team, is from the Dallas area. He played for SMU in Dallas and grew up in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills. Rice was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft and has caught nine touchdowns in his two seasons with Kansas City.

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