Placer County CEO who killed teen has history of speeding, was once arrested on DUI charge
Six years before his vehicle struck and killed Inderkum High School student Anthony Williams, Placer County CEO Todd Leopold spent a night in a Colorado jail after he was arrested for speeding through a ski town while impaired by alcohol, police and court records show.
Leopold’s June 2015 drunken driving charge was ultimately dropped as part of a guilty plea for the speeding infraction for going 35 in a 25 mph zone. The Colorado speeding ticket was among at least four that Leopold — Placer County’s top non-elected official — has received over the years, according to records The Sacramento Bee reviewed through a series of public records requests.
Rocklin police have said the driver who killed Williams was not at fault. Still, Leopold’s driving history is likely to renew outrage among those demanding answers about what happened March 19 when Leopold’s vehicle killed the 18-year-old high school senior.
Among those are Williams’ family.
“I’m very hurt by it,” Williams’ older sister, Queenisha Wade, told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday after learning about Leopold’s Colorado arrest. “My brother was such a good person. I just want justice for him. It feels like they’re covering something up.”
In the two months since the crash, Rocklin police have released only sparse details. They’ve never disclosed what make and model of vehicle was involved, whether impairment or distraction were a factor or how fast Leopold was traveling — all relatively basic details investigators often release after fatal wrecks. Rocklin police Capt. Scott Horrillo declined to comment Tuesday.
An autopsy report The Bee obtained Tuesday shows that Williams was walking “within the lane of traffic” when he was hit. He had a small amount of THC, the intoxicant one ingests when using marijuana, in his system. The report does not elaborate on what preceded the crash.
It wasn’t until Friday that definitive word came about who was driving. Leopold, not the police, said in a written statement that he had been behind the wheel. He said he was “heartbroken” over the “tragic accident.”
“My words and emotions,” he wrote, “cannot adequately express my profound grief and sadness.”
A history of speeding
The Bee made multiple efforts to speak with Leopold to ask him about his past driving infractions and also about the incident in which Williams was struck and killed, including whether Leopold was in any way impaired or speeding when he struck Williams. A request on Tuesday to interview Leopold went unanswered. He didn’t return a message on a number left on his cellphone.
While it’s not been disclosed how fast Leopold was going when his vehicle struck and killed Williams, court records show Leopold has a history of speeding in three states over the past 27 years.
In 1995, he was busted in New Mexico for speeding, though it’s not clear how fast he was going.
In 2006, he was caught in Denver driving at least 25 mph over the speed limit through a special safety corridor along Interstate 25. Facing the prospect of six points on his license, he pleaded down to a lesser charge and paid a $300 fine.
Then came his arrest in the Breckenridge, Colorado, case that briefly put him behind bars.
An officer wrote in a police report that he pulled over Leopold’s gray 2010 Jaguar on June 1, 2015, after clocking the vehicle doing 36 mph in a 25 mph zone. It was a bit before 10 p.m. on a Monday night, and Leopold had three other people in the car.
The officer noticed “a strong odor” of alcohol coming from Leopold’s window, he wrote. Leopold, who according to court records was about 6-feet-8 and weighed more than 200 pounds, said he’d had one drink.
“I asked Leopold to exit the vehicle,” the officer wrote. “He was unsteady on his feet as he walked to the rear of the sedan. ... Leopold’s eyes were bloodshot, watery and glassy. He told me he stopped drinking approximately 30 minutes prior.”
Blood-alcohol was under legal limit
During the roadside sobriety tests, Leopold was “swaying significantly” when he attempted to stand on one foot, police wrote. Instead of having his breath tested, he chose to have his blood drawn at a local hospital.
The officer arrested Leopold, and he was booked into the Summit County Jail on suspicion of DUI and speeding. He posted a $1,000 bond the next day, records show.
A couple of weeks later, the blood-alcohol level results came back at .052. It was under the .08 legal threshold for drunken driving. The DUI charge was changed to “driving while ability impaired.”
As part of a deal that October, Leopold pleaded guilty to speeding and the alcohol charge was dropped. He paid about $400 in fines and fees.
At the time of his arrest, Leopold was the county manager in Adams County, Colorado, a sprawling region that includes dense metropolitan areas north and east of Denver.
While he was there, a typo in a tax accounting program wound up costing the county $1.8 million, local media reported in 2016. Leopold went on leave around the same time for a few weeks for undisclosed reasons. Leopold left the office in 2017.
“Under Todd’s leadership, the county improved service delivery to residents while identifying operational efficiencies within the organization,” Commissioner Eva Henry said in a statement at the time. “We are grateful for the dedication and passion that Todd brought to the county and wish him well moving forward.”
Adams County spokeswoman Christa Bruning said the county commissioners who worked with Leopold didn’t want to discuss his tenure. She didn’t respond to questions about why Leopold went on leave. The county’s attorney declined to release his employment file, which would include any disciplinary action, citing the confidentiality of government employees’ personnel files.
Ticketed in Camaro on Interstate 80
Leopold became the Placer County CEO in January 2018. His starting salary was $241,259.
Six months on the job, on June 21, 2018, the California Highway Patrol clocked Leopold’s black Camaro going 89 mph on Interstate 80, just west of Dry Creek in Placer County. The posted speed limit was 65 mph.
Leopold did not challenge the ticket in court and instead paid the $366 fine.
In response to a list of questions from The Bee about Leopold’s driving and employment history, Nicole Lopez, Placer County’s assistant director of human resources, wrote in an email that he would have gone through a standard background check. The county did not retain that report, Lopez said. Even if officials did still have it, she said, they wouldn’t disclose what was in it because the report is confidential.
“The County, therefore, cannot verify the accuracy of the facts that you have recounted in your correspondence,” Lopez wrote.
Williams family obtained police report
Meanwhile, Rocklin police have refused to release a copy of the crash investigation report to the public, but Williams’ family has obtained a copy. They, too, are declining to share the document under advice from a family attorney.
“Our attorney said I can’t release that,” Charles Carpenter, Williams’ cousin, said Tuesday. “It will eventually come to light. Right now, we’re just trying to get this case started.”
Attempts by The Bee to reach the family’s attorney on Tuesday were not successful.
When asked whether his family was considering filing a lawsuit against Rocklin or Placer County, Carpenter said, “We’re just planning on getting justice for Anthony.”
At the request of the Rocklin Police Department last week, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case. The DA hasn’t indicated when its review will be completed.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
