CHICAGO (WBBM/AP) -- Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said Tuesday he panicked after he crashed his $600,000 special edition Lamborghini along the Edens Expressway and initially reported his car stolen after abandoning the mangled vehicle.
Bears linebacker Lance Briggs posted a $100 bond Monday afternoon after being charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident.
Briggs, speaking to reporters after practice on Tuesday, said he called a tow truck after leaving the scene and then reported that his car was stolen.
The charges against Lance Brigg include one count of leaving the scene of a property damage accident, a misdemeanor. He also faces two traffic citations: one count of failure to give immediate notice of an accident and one count of improper lane usage.
"When it happened, the first thing I did was, obviously, I panicked," Briggs said. "I didn't want there to be a big scene there. And so I left the scene. When I left, I called the tow truck. I also was startled, and I called to report that my car was stolen.
"Within probably 10 minutes, I called back and accepted responsibility for what I did because it was ridiculous in the first place."
Briggs said the accident changed him at that he hugged all of his teammates after the wreck - because "you never know what's going to happen."
Briggs' Lamborghini sports car was found early Monday morning, crashed and abandoned on the Edens near Devon.
Illinois State Police say they determined Briggs was the driver after they met with him Monday afternoon.
State Police say if convicted, Briggs faces a maximum of a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
Bears head coach Lovie Smith says he's just glad that linebacker Lance Briggs is okay following the crash early Monday morning.
Smith says his first thoughts when he heard about the accident was of Briggs' condition. "You hear about a car wreck, you think about how is everyone. And, for Lance, we just hope he was okay and he was and was able to get back out here, let our guys see him, get to practice which was good. But the bad part is we definitely don't want our players out early in the morning like that. Beyond that, we're just glad he's okay and hope that he's learned from it and will get home earlier next time," Smith said.
The coach says he always talks to his players about making better decisions.
The $600,000 sports car was found by police about 3:30 a.m. smashed up and abandoned near the Devon exit on the Edens Expressway.
"Lance Briggs met with Illinois State Police at District Chicago headquarters regarding the crash of his vehicle," Illinois State Police Master Sergeant Luis Gutierrez said Monday "At this time the Illinois State Police has determined that Lance Briggs was the driver of the vehicle," he said.
"He was charged with one count of leaving the scene of a property damage accident; one count of failure to give immediate notice of an accident; and one count of improper lane usage," Gutierrez said.
Briggs did post bond and has been released with a court date on October 4th at the Skokie courthouse, 1:30 p.m., Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez said no drug or alcohol tests were performed on Briggs.
Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith said Briggs has not broken any team rules "that I know of" and that at this point he will not disciplined by the team.
ISP Master Sgt. Rosauro Sanchez says, when troopers arrived on the scene at 3:14 a.m., they found the car off the road, but no driver.
A source tells Newsradio 780 that the car was a special edition vehicle and estimated its worth at $600,000. The source says that car was in a photo shoot Sunday and that a north suburban auto shop was supposed to put a #55 image on the vehicle.
The Bears drafted Briggs, 26, in 2003 and he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2007. He had been the subject of a lengthy contract dispute this summer after the Bears placed the franchise tag on him.
He had threatened to sit out the season rather than accept the one-year, $7.2 million contract that came with the tag, and at one point said he would never play for the Bears Again.
Briggs later altered his stance, threatening to sit out only 10 games so that he would still qualify for a full season under NFL rules.
Last month, he ended his holdout and accepted the $7.2 million contract in exchange for the Bears promise not to apply the tag again after the 2007 season. Briggs has yet to explain why he changed his mind.
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