Leonard Fournette was reportedly racing before his car caught fire
A newly uncovered police report revealed troubling details about NFL running back Leonard Fournette‘s mysterious car fire last month.
According to TMZ, the Florida Highway Patrol documents say that a witness came to the cops with the allegations shortly after Fournette revealed his car was destroyed while on a Hillsborough County highway on June 27.
The police report includes the witness’s claim that Fournette was traveling “at a high rate of speed” when he drove past him. Then, the witness stated he observed the vehicle and a motorcycle “racing and changing lanes.”
He stated he observed the vehicles “racing when fire then erupted from the bottom of” Fournette’s car. The witness recalled seeing the running back stop and get out of the car, while the motorcycle sped off.
In Fournette’s statements to the police, he told them he had “been having problems with the vehicle as of late.”
Despite the suspicious circumstances, the Florida Highway Patrol told TMZ that “no further action is expected at this point.”
Fournette escapes crazy car fire
Fournette initially posted a video to his Instagram detailing the mess of his vehicle. It is unclear how it caught fire, but the entire car was burnt to a crisp off the side of the highway.
The former LSU star was unharmed and wrote a caption on his Instagram post, describing his account of what happened but with few details.
“Man it was one of those days today but I thank God,” Fournette wrote. “My car caught on fire while I was driving……. But still blessed (praying emoji, heart emoji).”
Fournette just wrapped up his third season with the Buccaneers and emerged as a key part of the passing game. He had a career-high 523 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the air to go with 668 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
He appeared in 14 games, including nine starts, one year after starting 13 of 14 games.
Fournette started his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who drafted him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of LSU. On the whole, he has 4,478 rushing yards, 2,219 receiving yards and 41 total touchdowns across his six years in the league.
On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.