If Placer County CEO and Rocklin PD have nothing to hide about fatal crash, why go silent?
For almost two months, the Rocklin Police Department couldn’t say anything about the March 19 crash that killed a pedestrian, 18-year-old Anthony Williams, a 6-foot-8 Inderkum High School basketball star. They were still investigating, they said, so the department could not release a copy of the report. Sorry, but the investigation was still going on, blah blah blah.
A few days after The Sacramento Bee asked what was taking so long, the investigation was suddenly a wrap.
But when that happened, on Wednesday, police said they still could not release a copy of the report. And still couldn’t say anything, blah blah blah.
The only people entitled to any information, they said, were those directly involved in the incident.
There are only two of those: One was the victim, Williams, a young Black man who was orphaned at age 9 and now that he’s dead won’t be asking for any reports. The other is the alleged driver, Todd Leopold, who is the Placer County CEO.
Hopefully, at least the Williams family will now get all of their questions answered. But as a public official, Leopold has a responsibility to the community to be transparent about whatever happened.
If Leopold was not in fact the driver, surely he would have cleared up that misconception before now.
Maybe he did absolutely nothing wrong. Ending a young life would be devastating under any circumstances.
But if that’s true, then it’s even more inexplicable that Leopold has made himself look worse by refusing to talk about what happened. And his friends in law enforcement have made it look like they’re hiding something, too.
If you think that those in positions of authority have as much right as anyone else to keep quiet about such a tragedy, just imagine that, God forbid, Gavin Newsom or any other public official had killed a kid and then refused to say a word about it. Would that, too, be nobody’s business?
As the top official in Placer County, Leopold should be held no less accountable, and is no less required to be open about what happened.
The driver was not at fault, the police department said in a news release on Wednesday: “After a thorough review of all of the evidence, and witness accounts, in this case, it has been determined that the driver is not at fault and no criminal charges will be requested.”
If it’s true that he was not at fault, then the system that has tried to protect Leopold has done just the opposite, and why?
The Bee has repeatedly tried to get the police report on the collision. Members of Williams’ family have tried, too.
At about 8:30 p.m. on March 19, Williams was, according to police, “walking on the roadway” along Lonetree Boulevard near the Blue Oaks Town Center when he was hit.
Among the many questions still to be answered: Was Leopold ever tested for alcohol or drugs? And if not, why not? Could he not see Williams, who was not a small person? Was Williams walking in the middle of the road, or along its edge?
Who is served by the refusal to at least try and answer these questions, painful as they are? Have all of those concerned not been through enough without extending the pain?
“It was a vehicle that hit our brother, a human being, “ Williams’ sister, Queenisha Wade, told Fox 40. “They should have found a way to check him, see what’s going on, test him, not just let him go,” she said of the driver.
Wade’s boyfriend, Ron Shinn, asked why didn’t the driver “take any turns, swerve, or anything to get out of the way? Why are there no tire marks, no skid brakes, nothing? Looks like they just flew right through him.”
One of the only things we know about this tragedy is that we should have known more by now.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 10:25 AM.