While her little sister Serena is busy at both seeing her pregnancy through and sparring with former tennis Grand Slam champ John McEnroe,
Venus Williams herself is facing a personal crisis following her involvement in a recent vehicular accident. Her 2010 Toyota Sequoia SUV had been struck in the side at an intersection by a 2016 Hyundai Accent.
The collision resulted in broken bones and other assorted injuries to the elderly couple in the Accent, with passenger Jerome Barson, 78, eventually succumbing to his wounds after a two-week hospital stay.
Eyewitnesses to the incident claim that the elder Williams sister had run through a red light, and now she is being held responsible by police investigators.
Conflicting accounts
The car accident which occurred last June 9 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida now looks to be on the verge of forming a criminal case. Jerome Barson’s widow Linda related that she had stopped at the intersection where the incident happened, waiting for her traffic light to change. Once it turned green, she proceeded to cross the intersection only for Venus Williams’ SUV to suddenly cut across her path.
Williams’ side of the story states that the light turned green for her, but due to the concentration of traffic in her lane she moved very slowly and could not clear the intersection before the Barsons’ car plowed into her vehicle.
The contents of the above report, filed at the Palm Beach Gardens Police, noted that the recorded speed of Williams’ Toyota during the intersection crossing was a mere 5 miles per hour. In that aspect, the report names the tennis star to be responsible for the accident, the Barson couple’s wounds and Jerome Barson’s eventual death.
It concluded that Williams had violated the Barsons’ right of way during the intersection crossing.
Burden of responsibility
The position held in the accident report by the Palm Beach Gardens Police was corroborated by Linda Barson’s lawyer Michael Steinger. He describes the widow as suffering “intense grief and not knowing how she’ll go on.” Jerome and Linda Barson had been married 35 years.
Venus Williams’ own attorney Malcolm Cunningham stands by the 37-year-old tennis star’s account of having gotten the green light on her crossing. Furthermore, he notes that not only was she not given citations or charged with violations by responding police, but investigators also found no trace of alcohol nor drug use or any distracting electronics in evidence.
Maj. Paul Rogers of the Palm Beach Gardens Police announced that the incident is under further investigation, and thus far Linda Barson’s side has yet to file any criminal charges against Williams, who has yet to comment beyond sending a statement of condolences for the death of Jerome Barson.
Both Venus and Serena Williams are tennis Grand Slam champions, with the younger defeating the elder at the 2017 Australian Open. Venus’ last action in the sport was in May’s French Open.
