DA says he thinks Lynch was behind wheel of car that struck woman

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark now believes Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch was driving the vehicle involved in an alleged hit-and-run accident that injured a pedestrian last weekend.

"We're proceeding on the assumption that Lynch was driving the car," Clark said Friday, a day after he was limited to saying that Lynch was inside the 2008 Porsche SUV when it struck a woman crossing an intersection in downtown Buffalo before speeding off early May 31.

Clark made his new assertion based on the vehicle being owned by Lynch and that the player was spotted that night in the bar district near the accident scene. And he noted that police located the vehicle -- with damage linking it to the collision -- parked in the player's driveway later that morning.

"So, the logical presumption is that he was driving the car," Clark said.

Clark said Lynch and his attorney have still not scheduled a meeting with him or police investigators.

Clark said he's confident the investigation is nearing completion.

"I think this case is going to be resolved, and at the latest the first part of next week," Clark said.

Lynch, the Bills' 2007 first-round draft pick, has declined comment and did not take part in the team's voluntary practice Friday morning -- the first session he's missed since the series of minicamps began three weeks ago.

Without going into detail, coach Dick Jauron said Lynch's absence was related to a personal issue but not the accident.

Lynch's attorney Michael Caffery was not immediately available for comment.

The victim, identified as a 27-year-old woman from suburban Toronto, had a bruised hip and a cut that required seven stitches. She was treated and released from a hospital on the same day.

Clark is open to a plea in what's considered a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum one-year jail sentence and $1,000 fine.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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