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Florida State football players barely disciplined for hit and run accident

FSU cornerbacks P.J. Williams and Ronald Darby were involved in a hit and run accident back in October which totaled both cars … but were given a slap on the wrist, according to The New York Times.

That “slap” was two traffic tickets for Williams (who was driving). But that’s only part of the seeming favoritism — apparently the local Tallahassee police, along with the FSU police department, both neglected to even report the incident.

ESPN reports:

According to the Times, Williams, driving with a suspended license, hit a car off-campus at 2:37 a.m. on Oct. 5 — just hours after the Seminoles had beaten Wake Forest 43-3. Both cars were totaled. The paper reported that Williams abandoned the wrecked car and fled, along with Darby and another unidentified passenger, before returning to the scene “approximately” 20 minutes later.

The Times said Williams, the most valuable player in last season’s BCS National Championship, was not tested for alcohol or even asked by Tallahassee police if he had been drinking prior to the accident, and that two ranking officers from the Florida State University police department, who lacked jurisdiction, arrived on the scene but failed to report the incident to the school.

Florida State told the Times that the officers’ role was too minor to require a report or even to enter in their online police log.

The Times reported that — while the case was initially investigated as a hit-and-run accident — Williams was given only two traffic tickets totaling $392 in fines, which later didn’t even show up in the Tallahassee Police Department’s public online database because of a “technical glitch,” according to police. The fines remain unpaid and Williams’ license remains suspended, the paper reported.

Tallahassee police chief Michael DeLeo said “no one should be shown any favoritism.” He said an investigation would be coming shortly.

FSU president John Thrasher ripped the Times article in a statement to university supporters. He said “there was no information included in the report that supported any of its assertions.”

Read the full ESPN article and New York Times story.

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Associate Editor
Dave has been writing about education, politics, and entertainment for over 20 years, including a stint at the popular media bias site Newsbusters. He is a retired educator with over 25 years of service and is a member of the National Association of Scholars. Dave holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Delaware.