Former NFL coach Rex Ryan surrendered to the Metro Nashville Police Department on Wednesday on charges stemming from a hit-and-run in which a pickup truck allegedly struck two pedestrians near Fourth Avenue and Broadway. Police said the truck's license plate traced back to Ryan, and that he turned himself in after an arrest warrant was issued. His bond was set at $6,000.
According to NewsChannel 5, the pedestrians were crossing Broadway from Fourth Avenue with a walk signal when Ryan's truck turned right and ran over both of their feet, with the truck also making contact with one victim's leg. The pedestrians told police they waved Ryan down, and that he stepped out of the truck to argue with them before getting back in and driving away.
Pedestrians Say They Photographed Truck and Driver
The pedestrians told authorities they photographed both the license plate and Ryan himself before he left the scene, per the same NewsChannel 5 account. Police said those images, along with the registration record tying the truck to Ryan, formed the basis for the warrant that led to his surrender this week, as reported by The Tennessean.
Ryan, 63, is charged with two counts each of leaving the scene of an accident, failure to give information or render aid, and failure to obey a traffic-control signal, according to a statement from the Metro Nashville Police Department. The department said a judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000 following his surrender. As WSMV reported, the pedestrians suffered only minor injuries in the incident.
A Stretch of Broadway With a Troubled Safety Record
The intersection sits along Lower Broadway, a stretch of downtown Nashville that has drawn scrutiny for repeated pedestrian crashes. Metro Nashville Police crash data cited by FOX 17 showed 34 pedestrian-involved injury crashes along Lower Broadway, between First and Fifth avenues, over the past five years. Downtown and tourism organizations told the station the strip draws roughly 200,000 visitors or more on a given weekend, while some businesses have warned that closing the corridor to vehicles could disrupt deliveries and hurt commerce.
The area's safety concerns were underscored in August, when a separate crash at Broadway and 4th Avenue left one pedestrian dead and three others hospitalized, according to the Tennessean's earlier reporting. Police said that crash happened around 12:30 p.m. and involved an 87-year-old driver from Kentucky. Thomas Cahill was booked in Davidson County on Nov. 2 and faces one count of failure to yield resulting in death and three counts of failure to yield resulting in serious injury, per WSMV's earlier coverage of that case.
Ryan's case remains in its early stages following his surrender this week, with the charges filed by Metro Nashville Police and his bond already set. No additional details on the pedestrians' identities or further case developments have been released.
