Probe into Commerce Secretary’s Traffic Mishaps Could Last a Month
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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Don’t expect any quick answers as to what really happened last weekend in the Los Angeles area when police said Commerce Secretary John Bryson was involved in a series of hit-and-run accidents.
The Commerce Department said that Bryson, who’s been on the job only since last October, had a seizure and was given medication at a hospital. Meanwhile, the 68-year-old Cabinet member has taken a medical leave of absence and transferred his duties to the deputy secretary.
Still, police have to do their job and commander Ray Leyva of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday that determining exactly what happened when Bryson allegedly banged his Lexus into a Pontiac twice and a Honda Accord could take up to four weeks.
While the initial police report said that neither drugs nor alcohol was involved, investigators will still need three to four weeks to verify that claim based on lab tests.
The investigation will likely be handled by the police department in San Gabriel, Calif., the scene of the first accident.
On Tuesday, the White House said that Bryson spoke to President Obama personally for the first time since the alleged incidents, but wouldn’t disclose the nature of their conversation.
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