Back in January, we were hit with the heartbreaking news that Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock, and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy had passed away in a brutal car wreck during the school’s football National Championship celebration.
It was revealed that they were street racing, and star defensive lineman and possible future number one draft pick in this year’s NFL Draft, Jalen Carter, was issued an arrest warrant on charges of reckless driving and racing by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
The department released the following statement regarding Carter’s warrant:
“The investigation found that Chandler LeCroy, driver of the 2021 Ford Expedition, and Jalen Carter, driver of a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, were operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing shortly after leaving the downtown Athens area at about 2:30 a.m.
The evidence demonstrated that both vehicles switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists and drove at high rates of speed in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other. Evidence indicated that shortly before the crash the Expedition was traveling at about 104 miles per hour.
The toxicology report indicated that LeCroy’s blood alcohol concentration was .197 at the time of the crash. Investigators determined that alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving and speed were significant contributing factors to the crash.”
However, Carter denied his involvement, and shared this message in a since deleted social media post:
“This morning, I received a telephone call from the Athens Georgia Police Department informing me that two misdemeanor warrants have been issued against me for reckless driving and racing.
Numerous media reports also have circulated this morning containing inaccurate information concerning the tragic events of January 15, 2023.
It is my intention to return to Athens to answer the misdemeanor charges against me and to make certain that the complete and accurate truth is presented. There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Carter turned himself in, and after going to court, he was sentenced to one year probation for his involvement, and had to pay $1,000 in fines and has to complete 80 hours of community service after agreeing to plead no contest to the two misdemeanors.
With that being said, we now have bodycam footage of Carter on the night the wreck occurred.
You can hear the officer ask Carter questions like:
“Were you racing to Waffle House? Because I can tell you right now by looking at the damage on that car they were moving.”
Carter denied street racing.
Later in the video, you can also hear the star defensive lineman say to someone on the phone:
“I feel like he is trying to get something out of this or something.”
The officer responded after the call:
“I’m not trying to get anything out of you. I am just trying to find out how this happened and what you saw of it.”
It was also reported today that he wouldn’t be meeting with teams outside of the Top 10, confident he’ll still be drafted early in the 2023 NFL Draft.
We’ll see…
You can check out the full interaction below:
