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Title: Commerce Secretary John Bryson accused of hit-and-run; officials report seizure (Drugs and Alcohol?)
Source:
The Washington Post
URL Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/comme ... 12/06/11/gJQAD0OSUV_print.html
Published: Jun 11, 2012
Author: Ed OÂ’Keefe and Debbi Wilgoren
Post Date: 2012-06-11 13:08:04 by Hondo68
Keywords: multiple auto collisions, found unconscious in car, felony hit-and-run
Views: 654
U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson is accused of causing multiple auto collisions minutes apart in Southern California over the weekend, and of leaving the scene of one of the collisions, authorities said. A Commerce Department spokeswoman said Bryson apparently suffered a seizure and was hospitalized overnight for examination. It was not immediately clear whether the seizure cause the collisions, or might have resulted from them. Police in California said that if there was a medical reason for the car accidents, Bryson probably would not be prosecuted. Bryson, who was found unconscious in his car after the last collision, was given a citation for felony hit-and-run by the San Gabriel police while in the hospital Saturday night. San Gabriel police spokesman Lt. Ariel Duran said the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to prosecute Bryson, based on the results of toxicology and medical tests and the ongoing police investigation. Bryson submitted to a toxicology test, and those results are pending, Duran said. A joint statement by the San Gabriel Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said there were no indications at this point that drug or alcohol use played a role in the collisions. It said “all parties” were cooperating with law enforcement authorities. Bryson, 68, was driving a Lexus in the city of San Gabriel at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday, police said, when he allegedly rear-ended a Buick that had stopped at a train crossing. Bryson spoke to the three occupants of the Buick, then hit the vehicle again as he drove off, the statement said. The men in the Buick followed Bryson’s car and called 911 to seek help. About five minutes later, the statement said, Bryson allegedly struck a Honda Accord in the neighboring city of Rosemead. He “was found alone and unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle” after that crash, the joint statement said. One of the two occupants of the Honda complained of pain but declined medical treatment, authorities said. Two of the three men in the Buick also complained of pain and were treated by rescue workers. The accidents occurred in different police jurisdictions and are being jointly investigated by the sheriff’s office and the San Gabriel Police Department. Duran, the San Gabriel police watch commander on Saturday, said Bryson would have been arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run had he not been hospitalized. Instead, he was given the citation and told to appear at Alhambra Superior Court in 60 days. In Washington, the Commerce Department scrambled early Monday to address the situation. “Secretary Bryson was involved in a traffic accident in Los Angeles over the weekend. He suffered a seizure,” Commerce Department spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said in a statement. “He was taken to the hospital for examination and remained overnight for observation. He was released and has returned to Washington. The investigation is ongoing.” Friedman said Bryson was on personal time, was driving his own car, and was not accompanied by any security detail. He has no public events scheduled for today. White House officials said they would have no public comment on the situation until Press Secretary Jay Carney’s daily briefing later Monday. The Commerce Department is a sprawling enterprise with disparate bureaus ranging from the U.S. Census Bureau to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though President Obama has enjoyed a relatively stable Cabinet, leadership at Commerce has been in flux since before the Obama administration began. During the 2008 transition, Obama first tapped then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) to lead the department, but Richardson withdrew his nomination just days later amid an ethics investigation tied to his governorship. His withdrawal robbed the Obama transition team of the well-organized, “no drama” approach it had hoped to maintain during the transition. In a bid for bipartisanship, Obama then turned to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who initially accepted the president’s offer but withdrew his name in the early days of the administration, citing disagreements with the president’s economic policy. Finally, Obama tapped former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke (D) for the position. Locke’s tenure is perhaps best remembered for his stewardship of the 2010 Census and because he was the first Chinese American to hold a Cabinet position. Locke left the department last year to serve as U.S. ambassador to China after Jon Huntsman resigned from the Beijing posting to run for the GOP presidential nomination. The White House, responding to criticism that the Cabinet lacked individuals with private-sector experience, then sought to find a nominee with a business background. Several top corporate executives are said to have been considered but ultimately rejected the post. Among others, current Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Jeffrey Zients, a former Washington-area business executive, was considered. Instead, Obama tapped Zients to lead a possible reorganization of the department. Citing the need to reduce the spread of federal agencies, a bewildered Obama joked in his 2011 State of the Union address that U.S. salmon policy is handled by both the Commerce and Interior departments. Bryson was confirmed by the Senate last October. A former executive at Edison International and a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Bryson also once served on the boards of Boeing and The Walt Disney Company. He has maintained a low profile in Washington, in part because the administration has made little use of him in the media. Some officials privately concede that he is not the strongest public advocate for the administration’s economic and trade policies — even though he was initially billed as a possible liaison to the corporate world.
Commerce Secretary John Bryson accused of hit-and-run: A member of President Obama’s Cabinet was given a citation Monday for a felony hit-and-run in Southern California.
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