Local News

DORAL (CBS4) ― In an exclusive interview with CBS4, NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor says he had to leave the scene of an accident last Sunday on the Palmetto because it was too dangerous to stay there and he might have caused an accident by remaining on such a busy highway.

It's the first time the 50-year-old former linebacker has spoken on camera about the accident that happened about 6:35 Sunday night as he was heading home from the Miami Airport. He had veered away from another car that had swerved towards him and inadvertently clipped the back of Manuel Castillo's van, causing $9500 in property damage, according to police.

"I'm not even sure if I hit a vehicle," Taylor told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "I don't know. I don't know what I hit." At the time of the accident, Taylor told the Florida Highway Patrol he thought he had hit a guardrail.

"The law says I can seek safe harbour. You don't have to stay on 826, a busy and dangerous highway where there is 2 feet, maybe 3 feet of room in the outside lane," said Taylor. "There's no way I was going to stay put. There is no way I was going to stop."

Taylor was cited for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, a 2nd degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of up to $500 and/or six months in jail. He was also arrested by an FHP officer and taken to the Miami-Dade Jail. "That's where I put up $50, or 10 per cent of my $500 bond to get out. That was ridiculous."

"There have been only three people in the history of Florida who have been arrested for misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident with property damage," Taylor scoffed. "I can't believe I was arrested. I'm going to fight this and I think and hope they will drop the charges." He was also cited for careless driving.

"I went to the next exit," said Taylor. "I had no tire, no brakes on one side. I had to veer away. I had no brakes. I was not on drugs. I was not impaired. My license was fine. My insurance was fine. My registration was fine. What was I running from? I would have to be the dumbest criminal in the world to do this on 3 wheels and no brake."

Taylor says he tried to call Police. He said when he stopped by NW 122nd Street after the accident at 103rd street, "I asked people where I was. I was trying to call 911 when the cops arrived." He took issue with FHP investigators, who said they had received no call from Taylor about the accident.

He said, "If I had stopped on the highway and someone came over the ridge and hit me, I would have been liable for that accident. I would have been held accountable. I would not have been exercising good judgment."

D'Oench caught up with Taylor at the debut of the Jim McLean Signature golf course at Doral. While Taylor initially said he didn't want to talk about this accident, he relented and spoke on camera for nearly five minutes.

"The important thing is that no one got hurt and for future reference, if you see me in an accident, don't look for me right there, look for me at the next exit, because that's where I'll be. That's where it's safe," said Taylor.

D'Oench also was able to reach the wife of Manuel Villari Castillo, who was in the 1984 Ford Van when Taylor's 2009 Cadillac Escalade clipped it. Castillo's wife said she and her husband could not comment. She referred us to their Palm Beach County attorney, who said he would have a statement at a later point and said he could not allow Castillo to speak unless he was there.

Taylor, a linebacker for the New York Giants from 1981 to 1993, is considered to be one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game. He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and also appeared on the eighth season of TV's "Dancing with the Stars."

After retiring from the NFL, Taylor was hired as a color commentator for the short lived "Toughman" show on the Fox network, football analyst for TNT's "Sunday Night Football" and even appeared for a short time in the "WWF." He also turned his attention to acting, appearing in such films as "Any Given Sunday," "The Sopranos," "The Waterboy" and the 2000 remake of "Shaft."

His days on and off the field were sometimes checkered with drug use. In 1987, he admitted to and tested positive for cocaine use. He was suspended from football for 30 days the following year after failing a second drug test.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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