JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jaguars running back Denard Robinson fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the road into a retention pond early Sunday morning on the Southside, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office crash report.
No one was injured.
The report said Robinson, 25, was driving a black Chevy Impala west on Beach Boulevard and tried to turn left on Southside Boulevard, but made a wide left turn that sent the car over a sidewalk and down an embankment into the pond. The officer who filed the report said there were no skid marks to indicate Robinson tried to brake before he hit the water.
The report said the officer found Robinson and a female passenger asleep or passed out in the front seat of the car, which was submerged in the water on the driver's side.
Robinson opened his eyes when the officer tried to wake the two up, but then went back to sleep the officer said in the report.
The passenger rolled down her window at one point and said, "What's up?" the officer said, but she tried to roll the window back up when the officer said the car was in a pond and the two needed to get out of it.
The officer was able to reach inside and unlock the door before the passenger rolled her window back up, but he had to physically pull her out of the car, the report said.
According to the report, Robinson was passed out the whole time. When the officer woke Robinson up he told him he didn't want to leave the car because he thought he was still on the road. The officer had to remove Robinson's seat belt, turn off the car and tell Robinson several times to climb out of the passenger side after he tried at least three times to open the driver's side door, which was under water.
The officer said another officer was at the scene to screen Robinson for impairment but "felt the driver was not impaired and should not be charged with DUI." Robinson was not issued a citation.
Robinson, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Jaguars, released a statement Tuesday on his Twitter page:
I just wanted to let everyone know that I was involved in a single-car accident on Saturday night, and thankfully, everyone was safe and remained unharmed.
I thank God every single day for the opportunities he has presented me with, and I'm grateful every morning to wake up healthy.
I should not have been driving that late or when I was that tired, but again, I'm just glad that everyone was safe. God Bless.
The Jaguars also released a statement on the crash:
The team is aware that running back Denard Robinson was involved in a single-car accident over the weekend and is thankful that nobody was injured.