Georgia football coach Kirby Smart released a brief statement Wednesday after police issued an arrest warrant for former Bulldogs defensive lineman Jalen Carter on charges connected to a fatal January crash that killed two members of the program.
Carter faces charges of reckless driving and racing, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department announced Wednesday. Both charges are misdemeanors, the police department told Sports Illustrated.
“The charges announced today are deeply concerning, especially as we are still struggling to cope with the devastating loss of two beloved members of our community,” Smart said in the statement. “We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities while supporting these families and assessing what we can learn from this horrible tragedy.”
On Jan. 15, offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy were killed in a car crash that injured two other passengers in the hours after the Georgia football team celebrated its national championship victory. Police initially reported the early-morning incident to be a single-car crash.
However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday morning that Carter was alongside the other car, driven by LeCroy, in a separate vehicle after previously telling police that he was almost a mile away from the incident. Shortly after the report emerged, the Athens-Clark County Police Department announced the charges against Carter.
In a statement, police said that LeCroy and Carter were allegedly operating separate vehicles in a “manner consistent with racing” after departing the downtown Athens area around 2:30 a.m. ET. Investigators found evidence that the two 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,” the statement read.
Carter was reportedly present at the NFL scouting combine when Athens police announced the charges against him. Though the highly-touted prospect was scheduled to have a press conference Wednesday morning, an NFL spokesperson said that Carter was still in medical testing and would not speak to reporters, according to Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports.
