UPDATE: Jalen Carter was booked into jail and quickly released after he was hit with charges linked to a January crash that left a teammate and team staffer dead.
Athens-Clarke County jail records indicate the reckless driving charge carried a $1,500 bond while the racing charge carried $2,500.
Carter was released from Athens-Clarke County Jail at 11:49 p.m. Wednesday — just 16 minutes after booking, the New York Post reported.
“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,” Carter said in a statement. “Numerous 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 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 criminal wrongdoing.”
ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. – Law enforcement authorities in Georgia have secured an arrest warrant for Jalen Carter. The former Georgia Bulldogs football star and projected top NFL draft pick is facing charges stemming from his actions that contributed to a double traffic fatality involving a teammate and a school staff member.
According to an announcement by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department on Wednesday, Carter, 21, will be arrested for reckless driving and racing a vehicle driven by recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, ESPN reported.
Carter was present at the scene of the Jan. 15 crash and later provided conflicting accounts of his actions following the double traffic fatality, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
LeCroy, 24, and Bulldog offensive lineman Devin Willock, 20, were killed in what law enforcement initially reported as a single-vehicle wreck.
According to ESPN, Carter is in Indianapolis at the NFL scouting combine. Although he was expected to speak to reporters as part of a previously scheduled media day, plans have now changed. A league spokesperson later told reporters that Carter would not be speaking Wednesday because he and five other players were still undergoing physicals.
Investigators said Carter and LeCroy were “operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing” shortly before the collision.
“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,” the police statement said.
Furthermore, investigators determined that “alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving, and speed were significant contributing factors to the crash.”
LeCroy’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .197 — more than twice the legal limit in Georgia — when he crashed a 2021 Ford Expedition while traveling at 104 mph, police noted.
Police investigators said the Ford driven by LeCroy “failed to negotiate a left curve, resulting in the vehicle striking the curb with its front passenger tire and leaving the roadway on the west shoulder.”
After the SUV left the road, it struck a power pole and another utility pole, slicing them in half, before striking a tree on the rear passenger quarter panel. Consequently, the vehicle began spinning in a clockwise direction before it slammed into another tree, ESPN reported.
Carter was reportedly driving a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, but fled the scene before first responders arrived. He returned less than two hours later, according to documents and recordings of 911 calls reviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Documents reviewed by AJC revealed that Carter first told police that he heard the crash from a nearby apartment complex, but later admitted that he had been driving both behind and beside the SUV driven by LeCroy. However, he denied the two were engaged in a speed contest.
When Carter returned to the scene hours after the crash, police did not observe signs of impairment, AJC reported.
The double fatality occurred hours after Georgia celebrated winning back-to-back national championships with a parade and ceremony at Sanford Stadium. Willock was pronounced dead at the scene while LeCroy died shortly after being taken to a hospital.
Carter, a defensive tackle, was projected to be one of the top three picks in this year’s NFL draft prior to Wednesday’s announcement.
In an unrelated case several weeks after the Bulldogs national championship, quarterback Stetson Bennett was arrested for public intoxication in Dallas, Law Officer reported in January. He was found banging on doors in the 1600 block of Tribeca Way in Old East Dallas early one Sunday morning and taken into custody and subsequently released hours later.
