Police Report: Holy Cross Rowing Coach Said 'God Please Let Me Have Had A Green Arrow' After Deadly Crash
VERO BEACH, Fla. (CBS) – The Holy Cross women's rowing team coach who was driving the van at the time of a deadly crash in Vero Beach, Florida "failed to yield right-of-way" to oncoming traffic, according to a local police report. An officer wrote that Patrick Diggins asked after the collision if he had a green arrow.
The January 15 crash killed sophomore rower Grace Rett and injured 11 others. The van Diggins was driving collided with a pickup truck going in the opposite direction at an intersection just before 7:30 a.m.
The police report said Diggins, who was also injured in the crash, "made multiple spontaneous utterances" in the officer's presence.
"Please let me have had a green light. Did I have a green arrow? God please let me have had a green arrow," Diggins said, according to the report.
The driver of the pickup, Ronald Wolf, said Diggins appeared "to be looking down and not looking at the roadway as he pulled out in front of his vehicle."
An assistant coach in a second van behind Diggins said that while the light was green, she did not see a green arrow for a left onto the bridge.
Additionally, a witness police interviewed said the pickup truck driver "had nowhere to go to avoid a collision" with the van.
A funeral was held Wednesday for Rett, an Uxbridge resident.
One rowing team member remains hospitalized in Florida.
