U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson has been cited in a felony
hit-and-run case after allegedly crashing a Lexus into two vehicles in California on June 9, Los Angeles County police have confirmed.
According to the written statement by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, Bryson was behind the wheel of a Lexus which rear-ended another vehicle waiting for a train to pass in the city of San Gabriel at about five in the evening. The statement says Bryson spoke with the three males in the other car, then drove away, hitting their Buick again in the process.
Bryson was then "found alone and unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle," after allegedly causing another accident in the neighboring city of Rosemead.
Police say that while Bryson has now been formally cited in the hit-and-run, it will be up to the District Attorney's office to decide whether formal criminal charges should be filed. Only minor injuries were reported in the other vehicles involved in both accidents.
According to a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department, Bryson was admitted to hospital but released after the accidents.
"He has sustained no injuries and the investigation is ongoing," spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman tells CBS News. Neither the Commerce Department nor the White House offered any further comment on the incident. According to the police statement, which said the investigation was still in its preliminary stages, there were no signs that drug or alcohol use played a role in the crashes.
CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that it was the three men in the Buick, involved in the first accident, who called police as they followed Bryson's vehicle from the scene.
The Commerce Department's profile of Bryson, who has been the president's Commerce Secretary since Oct. 2011, describes him as, "a key member of President Obama's economic team working to implement the administration's top economic priority: accelerating job creation. He works to strengthen the economic recovery and U.S. competitiveness, and he serves as the voice for the business community in the President's Cabinet."
Bryson was in California to give a commencement address.
According to the written statement by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, Bryson was behind the wheel of a Lexus which rear-ended another vehicle waiting for a train to pass in the city of San Gabriel at about five in the evening. The statement says Bryson spoke with the three males in the other car, then drove away, hitting their Buick again in the process.
Bryson was then "found alone and unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle," after allegedly causing another accident in the neighboring city of Rosemead.
Police say that while Bryson has now been formally cited in the hit-and-run, it will be up to the District Attorney's office to decide whether formal criminal charges should be filed. Only minor injuries were reported in the other vehicles involved in both accidents.
According to a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department, Bryson was admitted to hospital but released after the accidents.
"He has sustained no injuries and the investigation is ongoing," spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman tells CBS News. Neither the Commerce Department nor the White House offered any further comment on the incident. According to the police statement, which said the investigation was still in its preliminary stages, there were no signs that drug or alcohol use played a role in the crashes.
CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that it was the three men in the Buick, involved in the first accident, who called police as they followed Bryson's vehicle from the scene.
The Commerce Department's profile of Bryson, who has been the president's Commerce Secretary since Oct. 2011, describes him as, "a key member of President Obama's economic team working to implement the administration's top economic priority: accelerating job creation. He works to strengthen the economic recovery and U.S. competitiveness, and he serves as the voice for the business community in the President's Cabinet."
Bryson was in California to give a commencement address.
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