DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — Dash cam video is providing new insight into a chase and crash that killed a driver and his child.
Deputies said the driver sped away during a traffic stop in Douglas County, then crashed 3 miles down the road.
Three other children were in the car, but survived.
“It was his decision to run with these children in the car,” Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Hambrick said. “Had the deputy known there were three children in the car, we would have very likely terminated this pursuit and not continued it.”
Authorities said a deputy attempted to pull over Billy Frazier at a QuikTrip station near Thornton Road and Maxham Road on Saturday but he sped off and started the chase.
The 3-mile chase lasted less than three minutes. It ended when Frazier's car collided with a tractor-trailer on Thornton Road and Riverside Parkway and caught fire.
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The crash killed Frazier and his 10-year-old son, but three other children, ages 3, 5 and 6, survived.
“The deputies did not hesitate. They went in to grab these kids out of a burning car, then returned to be able to extinguish the fire in the car,” Hambrick said.
Deputies said Frazier's criminal history and the amount of drugs in his car may have been reasons he tried to get away.
“Suspended license, on probation, possession of a stolen handgun in the vehicle and this felony amount of various narcotics could have all been reasons,” Hambrick said.
Deputies said there was meth, prescription drugs, cocaine and marijuana in the car, and enough of it for someone to sell.
Frazier’s son's basketball coach said the other three children remain in critical condition.
Channel 2's Matt Johnson spoke to Quemontae Frazier's basketball coach over the phone, who said he had coached him in a game in Atlanta hours before the crash.
He said he was a well-liked fifth grader at Cascade Elementery School who always had his father with him at games.
“All around great kid, never had no problems out of him,” the coach said.
The boy’s funeral is set for Thursday in Atlanta.