Police still waiting on Bolt's account of crash

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP) –

Young spectators cheer and try to touch Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt after he won the men’s 100m at the Diamond League athletics meeting at Bislett Stadium in Oslo on June 7. Alcohol use has been ruled out as the cause of a one-vehicle accident from which global sprint star Bolt walked away uninjured, Jamaican police have revealed.

Alcohol use has been ruled out as the cause of a one-vehicle accident from which global sprint star Usain Bolt walked away uninjured, Jamaican police have revealed.

However officers say they are still waiting to hear from the triple Olympic sprint champion after he provided a “sketchy” statement following Sunday’s accident, which damaged the front of Bolt’s BMW sports car.

Jamaica’s top traffic officer Senior Superintendent Radcliff Lewis was quoted in media reports as saying 25 year-old Bolt had passed a breathalyser test on Monday as results showed he was not drinking or under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident early Sunday morning in a busy area of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston.

While the police have admitted they are still waiting to hear from Bolt as calls to a telephone number he provided went unanswered, they insist he will be given no celebrity treatment.

Reports claim police are coming under increased pressure from the public, some of whom allege Bolt was being given preference because of his celebrity status.

Lewis said if investigations proved Bolt was liable for prosecution, they would not hesitate.

“Not because he is a world celebrity are we going to compromise our position, but we have discretion and if it is to be applied it will be, so we need for him to come so that we can have dialogue,” Lewis is quoted as saying.

“He is a youngster and he will do what youngsters do to enjoy themselves, but not to that extreme. I am not here to ridicule youngsters but here to guide them and a warning is one way to guide a youngster and so discretion will be used.”

Lewis added that Bolt had given what they described as a “sketchy” statement and said police were still hoping to get more information from him.

“We need to have more dialogue with him about how the accident happened,” Lewis said Monday.

Local police said that if any charges were to be brought against the sprinter they would be traffic-related and not criminal. If found guilty he would be charged for careless driving and failure to drive with due care and attention.

Under Jamaican law Bolt would be hit with a fine not exceeding $5,000, reports said.