Treat Williams death: Driver charged in fatal crash SPEAKS OUT and says he considered actor a friend and charges against him are ‘unwarranted’

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 14:58 BST, 5 August 2023 | Updated: 08:14 BST, 6 August 2023

A driver accused of causing the crash that killed Treat Williams has said he knew the actor and ‘considered him a friend.’

Ryan Koss, the managing director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, denied wrongdoing and said the charges against him are not warranted.

Koss asserted that he had known Williams for years as a member of the tight-knit community, as well as being a fellow theatre member.

He added that he was devastated by Williams’ death and offered his ‘sincerest condolences’ to the actor’s family.

Koss, 35, of Dorset, issued his statement on Friday three days after being issued a citation for grossly negligent operation causing death. 

Aglow: A driver accused of causing the crash that killed Treat Williams has said he knew the actor and 'considered him a friend'; Williams pictured 2019

Aglow: A driver accused of causing the crash that killed Treat Williams has said he knew the actor and ‘considered him a friend’; Williams pictured 2019

He was ordered to appear in court in September to be formally charged.

A Vermont State Police investigation deduced that Koss’ vehicle pulled in front of Williams’ motorcycle on June 12 in Dorset.

If he fails to beat the felony charge against him, Koss could be forced to pay a $15,000 fine and/or spend 15 years behind bars, TMZ reports.

Koss, however, said he is ‘confident the facts will show I obeyed all relevant traffic laws, and the state’s charges are unwarranted.’

Williams, 71, of Manchester Center, was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Centre in upstate New York on the day of the accident.

Richard ‘Treat’ Williams latterly starred in the TV series Everwood, which ran on The WB from 2002 until 2006.

Williams played a newly widowed doctor who moves away from Manhattan with his children and relocates to small-town Colorado.

However he is perhaps most famous for his starring role in the movie Hair, directed by the pioneering Czechoslovak director Milos Forman.

Throwback: Richard 'Treat' Williams latterly starred in the TV series Everwood, which ran on The WB from 2002 until 2006

Throwback: Richard 'Treat' Williams latterly starred in the TV series Everwood, which ran on The WB from 2002 until 2006

Throwback: Richard ‘Treat’ Williams latterly starred in the TV series Everwood, which ran on The WB from 2002 until 2006

However: He is perhaps most famous for his starring role in the movie Hair, directed by the pioneering Czechoslovak director Milos Forman

However: He is perhaps most famous for his starring role in the movie Hair, directed by the pioneering Czechoslovak director Milos Forman

However: He is perhaps most famous for his starring role in the movie Hair, directed by the pioneering Czechoslovak director Milos Forman

Based on the groundbreaking Broadway musical of the same name, Hair set the rise of the hippie movement to song and dance. 

Over the course of a showbiz career that lasted over half a century, Williams appeared in more than 120 TV and film roles.

His films included The Eagle Has Landed, Prince of The City, Once Upon A Time in America, Deep Rising and Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead.

Williams is survived by Pam Van Sant, his wife of 35 years, as well as their son Gill, 31, and their daughter Ellie, 25.

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