Angela Chao attends the AFI Awards Luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on January 12, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Frazer Harrison | Getty Images
The most vital group A police report released Wednesday shows CEO Angela Chao was under the influence of alcohol when she by chance drove her Tesla into a pond at the ranch she owned together with her husband, enterprise capitalist Jim Breyer, after meeting relatives there last month friends.
A toxicology report showed that Chao, who died in the Tesla after friends and first responders were unable to extricate her from the vehicle between late Feb. 10 and the next morning, had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.233.
That’s almost thrice the legal limit for driving on public roads in Texas.
Chao, 50, was the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who’s married to her sister, former Cabinet Secretary Elaine Chao.
A brand new report details Chao’s frantic but unsuccessful try to get her out of the 2020 Tesla
“ Chao informs in a calm voice [Amber Landeau-Kienan] unable to exit the vehicle,” a Blanco County Sheriff’s Office report said.
“Chao told Keinan that the water level was rising and that she was going to die, and told Keinan, ‘I love you,’ before the vehicle went under the water.”
The report said Landeau-Kienan got into a kayak and swam into the pond to attempt to get to Chao.
The report said Chao drove into the pond late Feb. 10 at a ranch in Johnson City after dining at the property’s guesthouse with seven “close friends,” some of whom attended Harvard Business School together with her.
A police report says she was returning to the most important house on the 4,500-acre ranch when her Tesla plunged into the water after she put it in reverse and went over the top of a limestone block wall.
The report said Chao called Landeau-Kienan around 11:42 p.m.
“Chao, in a calm voice, informed Kienan that she was in the ‘lake’ (pond),” the report reads.
A couple of days after the accident, on February 15, Texas Fire Department and FBI agents met with the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, which was the lead investigating agency in Chao’s death.
After reviewing scene photos and videos, in addition to reports, the Texas Rangers and the FBI “have determined that this incident was nothing more than an unfortunate accident.”
Angela Chao became CEO of Foremost Group in 2018. The company was founded by her father James Chao in 1964.
A spokesman for James Chao and his family said Wednesday: “Angela’s death was a terrible tragedy and words cannot describe the family’s deep sadness.”
“The family is grateful to the first responders and friends who tried so hard to save her,” the spokesman said.
Angela Chao has served on the boards of the American Bureau of Shipping Council, the Board of Advisors to the Dean of Harvard Business School, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her first husband, investment banker Bruce Wasserstein, died a few months after their wedding in 2009.
Breyer is co-owner of the Boston Celtics team of the National Basketball Association. Previously, he served on the boards of Facebook, Walmart, Marvel Entertainment, and News Corp. and Dell.
In late February, McConnell announced he would step down as Republican Senate leader at the end of the yr.
McConnell alluded to the death of Angela Chao in his statement on the Senate floor as he revealed his plan to step down from his leadership position.
“This has been an especially difficult time for my family,” McConnell said.
“Just a few weeks ago we tragically lost Elaine’s little sister, Angela,” he said. “When you lose a loved one, especially at a young age, there is a certain amount of introspection that goes along with the grieving process.”
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