Police: Holy Cross crew coach at fault in crash that killed 20-year-old team member

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Police said the Holy Cross crew coach, who was driving the van involved in the team's fatal crash last week, was at fault for causing the collision, according to the preliminary crash report released Friday.

The Vero Beach Police Department said Holy Cross women's crew coach Patrick Diggins, 55, of Holden, Massachusetts, was driving the van when it collided with a truck on Jan. 15. Grace Rett, 20, was killed in the crash. The team was in Vero Beach for training. 

Officers said they couldn't get an official statement from Diggins, who was seriously injured. But he was talking before being taken to a trauma center, the report states.

"Please let me have had a green light," Diggins said, according to the report. "Did I have a green arrow? God, please, let me have had a green arrow."

The truck driver, Ronald Edward Wolf, 55, told police he had the green light as he approached the intersection. According to the report, Wolf told police Diggins appeared to be looking down as the van turned.

Two witnesses said the turn lane light was green but did not have a green arrow, the report states. 

The crash is still under investigation.

Staff writer Max Chesnes contributed to this report.