“There was no brakage,” declared Oklahoma City police chief Bill Citty in releasing the police traffic investigation report into the March 2 death of energy exploration leader Aubrey McClendon, the former CEO of Chesapeake Energy.
He was commenting as he explained how McClendon, driving in his Chevy Tahoe was traveling nearly 90 miles an hour at the time of the crash and doing not quite 80 miles an hour at the point of impact when his SUV smashed into a bridge abutment.
Chief Citty would not state whether suicide might have played a factor, opting to leave that up to the State Medical Examiner when an investigative report is released.
But he made it clear, there were no skid marks that might show an attempt to brake or halt the speeding vehicle from hitting the abutment. There were indications that the truck had swerved then crossed Midwest Boulevard and hit the concrete wall.
Chief Citty told reporters gathered at police headquarters that the computerized data box had been recovered in tact after the fiery crash and it showed there were light taps on the brake, but not the kind of touches that would show an attempt to stop the vehicle.
The Chief said investigators were still attempting to learn whether there might have been an incident the prior evening that could have played a role in the crash. Traffic investigators also were unsure if McClendon might have been on his cell phone or texting at the time.
McClendon was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. His truck swerved at a point 189 feet from the point of impact and the data showed the vehicle was traveling 88 mph. Five seconds before the impact, the vehicle had slowed only to 78 miles an hour and McClendon made no attempt to stop the truck. The crash occurred a day after McClendon had been indicted by an Oklahoma City federal grand jury on criminal charges of bid-rigging when he was with Chesapeake Energy. The charges were dropped a day after his death.
View remarks of Police Chief Bill Citty’s news conference as aired on News 9.
View Chief Bill Citty’s news conference
