Two of the victims injured after Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice purportedly caused a multiple-car collision while street racing in Dallas have filed a lawsuit seeking $10 million in punitive damages and $1 million in medical care.
Edvard Petrovskiy and Irina Gromova filed the suit last Thursday in a Dallas County court, as reported by Fox 4 KDFW. The suit stems from a car crash that happened on March 30, when Rice, allegedly driving a leased Lamborghini SUV, and Southern Methodist University cornerback Teddy Knox, who may have been driving a Corvette, lost control at high speeds and struck four other vehicles. The perpetrators were filmed walking away from the scene without offering to help the crash victims, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
An affidavit obtained last week by Fox 4 states that Rice was traveling at 119 miles per hour when he lost control of the SUV, striking the guardrail on North Central Expressway. The Corvette was traveling at 116 miles per hour but slowed to 91 mph about one second before the crash.
The two victims suffered head trauma, lacerations to the face, bruising, and internal bleeding, according to the lawsuit.
“They were just commuters traveling along 75 without absolutely no notice as to what was about to happen,” said the couple’s attorney, Sanjay Mathur, per Fox 4. “So we knew the speed was going to be very, very high. It’s one thing to speed and to contest yourself and slow down, knowing that it’s time to back off. And it’s quite another thing to race somebody else and have your ego involved.”
Rice is expected to be included in offseason training, according to the Kansas City Chiefs, but SMU has suspended Knox. Both men also face criminal charges filed last week in Dallas. Rice and Knox are being charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury, and six counts of collision involving injury.
Rice has not made a public statement about the incident. His attorney, Royce West, told NFL.com that Rice was “cooperating with authorities” last week. Rice released a statement on a now-expired social media post acknowledging his role in the crash.
“I take full responsibility for my part in this matter and will continue to cooperate with the necessary authorities,” Rice wrote, as previously reported by DX. “I sincerely apologize to everyone impacted in Saturday’s accident.”
Multiple other victims involved in the crash are also likely to file lawsuits in the coming days.
Rice was a second-round draft pick by the Chiefs in the 2023 NFL Draft out of SMU. Last season, he developed into a key player for the Chiefs, who went on to win the Super Bowl. Rice set a record for postseason receptions by a rookie.
