Holy Cross rowing coach made fatal turn into oncoming traffic, witnesses said
“God please let me have had a green arrow," coach Patrick Diggins reportedly said after the crash.
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When police first arrived at the scene of a fatal two-vehicle crash in Vero Beach, Florida, last week that involved a van filled with members of the Holy Cross women’s rowing team, they were reportedly unable to get a statement from rowing coach Patrick Diggins, who had been driving.
He did, however, begin to make “spontaneous” comments.
“Please let me have had a green light,” Diggins said, according to the crash report, posted online by 7News. “Did I have a green arrow? God please let me have had a green arrow.”
The crash, which happened around 7:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Jan. 15, killed sophomore Grace Rett, who had just celebrated her 20th birthday the day before. Her funeral was Wednesday morning.
Eight people were taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce following the crash. Six have been released, including Diggins, according to The Boston Globe. Two students remain in the hospital, one of which is said to be in serious condition in Florida. Rower Hannah Strom was flown from Lawnwood to Mass. General Hospital on Monday, according to Holy Cross.
Following the crash, witnesses told police the traffic light was green, but a green arrow that would’ve allowed Diggins to make a left turn without having to yield to oncoming traffic wasn’t lit. Three witnesses, including Stephanie Ricker, the rowing team’s assistant coach, all said there wasn’t a green arrow, according to the report. The driver of the pickup that struck the front end of the van told authorities that he had a green light, and as he proceeded to drive into the intersection, Diggins appeared to be looking down as he made the fatal turn.
One of the witnesses also said the pickup’s driver “had nowhere to go to avoid a collision [with the van.]”
Police have not interviewed Diggins, according to the Globe. They’re waiting on an autopsy, and the matter is currently being investigated “only as a traffic crash,” Vero Beach Officer Darrell Rivers told the newspaper.
“Coach Diggins is fully cooperating with the ongoing police investigation in Florida,” Christopher Lyons, Diggins’s attorney in Florida, told the Globe. He also said the coach “has expressed his deep condolences” to the Retts, as well as the injured rowers and their families.
The crash remains under investigation, according to the Globe.
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