Rex Ryan Charged With Leaving the Scene After Truck Allegedly Hits Two Pedestrians in Nashville

Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan turned himself in to Metro Nashville police on Wednesday morning, facing six misdemeanor charges after police say his pickup truck struck two pedestrians in downtown Nashville and he drove away.

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 release from the Metro Nashville Police Department (opens in a new tab). A judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000.

What police say happened

According to police, the incident happened shortly before midnight last week at Fourth Avenue and Broadway, in the heart of downtown Nashville. Two people were crossing Broadway from Fourth Avenue with a walk signal when a pickup truck turning right from Fourth Avenue ran over both of their feet and made contact with one person's leg, police said. Both pedestrians suffered minor injuries.

The pedestrians told police the truck kept going and stopped at a red light at Broadway and Representative John Lewis Way. There, they said, they waved down the driver, whom police identified as Ryan. According to the police account, Ryan got out of the truck, argued with the pair, then got back in and drove away without exchanging information.

The pedestrians photographed the driver and the truck's license plate, which police said was registered to Ryan. Warrants followed, and Ryan surrendered on the six outstanding misdemeanor warrants Wednesday morning, according to police.

What comes next

No court date had been made public as of Wednesday afternoon, and none of the reports reviewed by Undrafted included a statement from Ryan or anyone representing him. The charges are allegations, and Ryan is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

TMZ reported the surrender Wednesday, and WSMV (opens in a new tab) and the police department's own release laid out the same charges and bond amount.

Ryan's NFL career

Ryan is best known for his six seasons as head coach of the New York Jets, from 2009 to 2014, a run that included consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game in his first two seasons. He then coached the Buffalo Bills in 2015 and 2016 before Buffalo fired him late in the 2016 season.

Sources: Metro Nashville Police Department, WSMV, TMZ.