Accused racer arrested after crash killed Gwinnett couple

A Gwinnett County man died on his 62nd birthday along with his wife in May, and police say the street racer who caused the crash and ran was arrested Wednesday.

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Thu Thao Le, 60, and her husband Tho Lam, 62, of Grayson, were riding in their Toyota 4Runner with their son driving on Ronald Reagan Parkway around 10:20 p.m. May 5.

Police say Selassieson Williams, 27, of Covington, was racing a BMW when he clipped the SUV. The 4Runner spun across the guardrail into oncoming lanes, where a minivan hit it.

“Two people did lose their lives from that incident,” said Brock Marks with Gwinnett County police.

The couple’s son and the minivan’s driver were hurt but survived. Witnesses told police a woman driving another car picked up the BMW’s driver.

“We’re unclear whether or not he was actually racing that specific vehicle,” Marks said.

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Investigators identified Williams and took out eight warrants Nov. 11. Officers arrested him at a traffic stop the same day, and body camera video shows what he told an officer who asked his name.

“I don’t answer your questions,” Williams said.

He faces two counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle and two counts of hit and run resulting in serious injury or death. He is also charged with reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, failure to maintain lane and racing.

It is one of several crashes in recent months that killed innocent bystanders and led to racing charges.

“These are the people that take that level of car enthusiasm and turn it into dangerous activity for our communities, whether that be the intersection shutdowns or just racing on our interstates and highways; even in our residential areas we have had the issues,” Marks said.

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