Fayetteville, AR (Sports Network) - Arkansas placed Bobby Petrino on paid leave Thursday after a police report showed a 25-year-old female employee was a passenger on the football coach's motorcycle when it crashed late last week.
Petrino, 51, crashed Sunday night near the town of Crosses in Madison County -- about 23 miles southeast of Fayetteville.
Though his family released a statement saying he was alone at the time of the crash, the third page of a four-page collision report released Thursday by the Arkansas State Police lists Jessica Dorrell, 25, as riding on the motorcycle with him.
In a statement released by the school, Petrino said the police report was "an accurate description of my accident, which includes details that had not publicly come to light prior to the report being issued."
The coach said he regretted not publicly acknowledging that Dorrell was the woman on his motorcycle and said he's "been in constant pain, medicated and the circumstances involving the wreck have come out in bits and pieces."
"That said," continued Petrino, "I certainly had a concern about Jessica Dorrell's name being revealed. In my press conference, I referred to her simply as 'a lady.' My concern was to protect my family and a previous inappropriate relationship from becoming public.
"In hindsight, I showed a serious mistake in judgment when I chose not to be more specific about those details. Today, I've acknowledged this previous inappropriate relationship with my family and those within the athletic department administration."
Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said during a press conference Thursday night that Petrino admitted not being "totally forthcoming" about the crash, according to arkansasonline.com, which said Dorrell was hired to a position in the Arkansas athletic department last week.
Petrino is 34-17 in four seasons at Arkansas and guided the Razorbacks to an 11-2 mark and a Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State this past season.
He was taken to the hospital in stable condition after the crash and later released.
"I apologize to my wife, Becky, and our four children, chancellor (David) Gearhart, Jeff Long, the Board of Trustees, university administration, my coaching staff, student-athletes and the entire state of Arkansas," Petrino said in his statement. "I have been humbled by the outpouring of concern and get-well wishes. I apologize to the Razorback Nation for the attention my actions have brought to the University of Arkansas and our program.
"I will fully cooperate with the university throughout this process and my hope is to repair my relationships with my family, my athletic director, the Razorback Nation and remain the head coach of the Razorbacks."
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