Tuesday afternoon Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo announced that the evidence gathered from the investigation into the fatal crash of Kevin Ward Jr. in which Tony Stewart was involved, will be submitted to a grand jury.
Kevin Ward Jr. was fatally injured in a crash that took place on August 9 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park during a sprint car race. The accident occurred after an on-track incident between Ward and Stewart after which Ward climbed from his car, walked onto the track to confront Stewart and was struck by Stewart’s car.
It will be the responsibility of the grand jury to determine what action will be taken concerning the case.
The complete statement is below:
“Over the past several weeks I have reviewed with members of the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department their investigation, as it progressed, in the Tony Stewart matter. Recently that office concluded its work and forwarded the complete case file to me. Upon my review of all of the information contained in the entire investigation, I have made the determination that it would be appropriate to submit the evidence to a grand jury, for their determination as to what action should be taken in this matter. Accordingly, the evidence developed in the investigation will be presented to an Ontario County grand jury in the near future.
“As grand jury proceedings in New York State are strictly confidential by law, I am unable to state when the matter will be scheduled, other than to state that I intend to present the matter in the near future. Similarly, because of the confidential nature of these proceedings, I cannot state who will be called as witnesses, or what any witness’s expected testimony will be. When the presentation has been completed and a determination has been made, I will advise the public and the media at that time of the results.”
Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed that Stewart would race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire this weekend.
Tony Stewart also issued a statement saying, “I respect the time and effort spent by both the Ontario County District Attorney and the Sheriff’s Office in investigating this tragic accident. I look forward to this process being completed, and I will continue to provide my full cooperation.”
NASCAR Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes responded to the announcement from the DA’s office stating, “We are aware of the completed investigation and the announced next steps. First, our thoughts continue to be with all who have been impacted by this tragedy. We will monitor this process and stay in close contact with Stewart-Haas Racing. It would be inappropriate for NASCAR to comment on this case so we will continue to respect the process and authorities involved.”
This New Yaker has his eyes set on the prize right from the start. Who wouldn’t want to raise his “worth” by being able to be the one who could conquer such a big prize as Tony? It was evident that no “playboy” was going to come into their state and kill one of their own.
Yes NA$CAR, just keep out of it. If you can’t help him, at least keep out of it.