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June 11, 2012 4:04 AM | CBS News

U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson is being investigated in a felony hit-and-run
case after allegedly crashing a Lexus into two vehicles in California on June 9, Los Angeles
County police have confirmed.

According to the written statement by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, Bryson was behind
the wheel of a Lexus which rear-ended another vehicle waiting for a train to pass in the city of
San Gabriel. The statement says Bryson spoke with the three males in the other car, then drove
away, hitting their Buick again in the process.

Bryson was then "found alone and unconscious behind the wheel of his vehicle," after
allegedly causing another accident in the neighboring city of Rosemead.



Only minor injuries were reported in the other vehicles involved in both accidents. Bryson himself
was still hospitalized early Monday morning after being admitted with non-life-threatening injuries,
Los Angeles police tell CBS News affiliate KCBS.

According to the police statement, which said the investigation was still in its preliminary stages,
there were no signs that drug or alcohol use played a role in the crashes.

The Commerce Department's profile of Bryson, who has been the president's Commerce Secretary
since Oct. 2011, describes him as, "a key member of President Obama's economic team working to
implement the administration's top economic priority: accelerating job creation. He works to
strengthen the economic recovery and U.S. competitiveness, and he serves as the voice for the
business community in the President's Cabinet."