Court Records Purport Employees at Georgia CFB Frequently Drove After Having Alcohol
Mark Schlabach of ESPN broke the story on Thursday, almost a year after offensive lineman Devin Willock and staffer Chandler LeCroy perished in a drunk driving accident that happened after the Bulldogs’ national championship parade.
LeCroy, who was operating a rental Ford Expedition, had a blood alcohol content that was 2.5 times over the permitted limit, as Fox 5 Atlanta previously revealed.
LeCroy’s blood alcohol content at the time of the collision, according to a toxicology analysis, was.197, according to a news release from the police to FOX 5. The acceptable limit for blood alcohol is.08. LeCroy’s Expedition was reportedly moving at around 104 miles per hour just prior to the collision, according to evidence cited by the authorities.”
In the streets of Athens, Georgia, after the parade, LeCroy was apparently racing defensive player Jalen Carter of Georgia. Bowles was in the rear seat with Willock. Additionally, Warren McClendon rode along.
Bowles is pursuing damages from Carter, LeCroy’s estate, the University of Georgia Athletic Association, and other parties. In July, the lawsuit was submitted. A month later, Bowles was let off, and she said that she was the victim of reprisals.
Since then, Bowles has submitted an updated complaint to the Gwinnett County, Georgia, state court.
“Association coaches and staff regularly drank alcohol at UGA football coach Kirby Smart’s residence during recruiting events,” the lawsuit states in part. “After the events, they drove Association SUVs to return recruits’ families and guests to their accommodations.” The coaches from the Association and UGA were fully aware that involved booze in the Association SUVs.”
This goes against what the University of Georgia Athletic Association has said in the past.
LeCroy was not authorized to drive that automobile, which was leased by the university, according to Reeves Jackson of 11 Alive and the University of Georgia Athletic Association. Not “personal use,” which was “strictly prohibited,” but rather “recruiting activities only” was the purpose of such automobile.
Bowles then included two messages in his updated lawsuit to support his assertions. The latest was a communication from February 2022 purportedly from an employee of the athletic association, telling recruiting staff members that an associate AD wanted them to convert a downtown Athens restaurant “into a bar with [recruits’] families and don’t leave.”
Bowles’ agent, Rob Buck, provided a statement to ESPN that included the following excerpt: “The messages go counter to the Association’s public declarations and pleads with its fan base. Even though UGA had laws against it, the messages show that the Association knowingly let football staff members to drive Association SUVs after drinking.”
In response to the complaint, an official from the university issued a statement on Thursday saying, “We are reviewing the amended complaint, but we dispute its claims and will vigorously defend the Athletic Association’s interest in court.”
Perย Marc Weiszerย of theย Athens Banner-Herald,ย the paperย requested “from UGA cell phone messages from UGA-issued phones for five recruiting staffers from the weekend of the crash” back in May.
The school replied after six months, stating that “no responsive documents” were found.
In accordance with Schlabach’s account of the case, Bowles sustained injuries including “a punctured and collapsed lung, kidney and liver lacerations, three lumbar fractures, five fractured vertebrae, ten broken ribs, a broken clavicle, fractured and cracked teeth, and abdominal bleeding.”
She furthermore “suffered a closed head injury that caused neurological damage, severe eye pain and, according to her neurosurgeon, significant damage to the membrane that surrounds the nerves of her spinal cord, which can progress to permanent paralysis.”
Weiszer reports that Bowles is suing the University of Georgia Athletic Association for almost $171,000 in damages (medical costs included) and over $8,800 in missed pay.