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Haymarket teen charged in Prince William Co. car crash that killed 19-year-old

A teen driver involved in a crash in Prince William County, Virginia, that left a 19-year-old dead over the weekend is now facing charges.

On Tuesday, police announced that a 16-year-old Haymarket boy was charged with reckless driving and driving without a license in connection with the crash that killed Qais Jailani, 19, of Haymarket.

The crash happened Saturday around 1 a.m. along a winding stretch of Catharpin Road near Fallen Oaks Place in Gainesville.

Police initially said Jailani was behind the wheel of a 2016 Hyundai Elantra traveling south on Catharpin Road at a high speed shortly after 1 a.m. Aug. 26 when the 16-year-old, who was in a 2015 Corolla, passed him, crossing over a double yellow line. Police said Jailani then attempted to overtake the Corolla in a “No Passing Zone,” but hit the Corolla’s bumper.

The Corolla rotated and struck a third car — a 2006 Scion traveling in the opposite direction — while the Elantra that Jailani was driving left the roadway and traveled down an embankment before striking a tree. Jailani was taken to the hospital where he died.

A passenger in Jailani’s car, a 19-year-old man from Gainesville, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

In the update Tuesday, police said both Jailani and the 16-year-old were driving well above the posted 40 mph speed limit in the stretch of Catharpin Road where the crash happened.

The driver of the Scion, identified only as a 50-year-old South Riding woman, was not injured. Police said she was driving properly “and was uninvolved in the driving behavior of the other two drivers.”

A court date is pending for the 16 year-old.

WTOP’s Jack Moore contributed to this report.

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A group of Gainesville-area residents and an activist organization sued Prince William County and two tech developers on Friday to block construction of the PW Digital Gateway, which is expected to become the largest data center corridor in the world. The residents, joined by the nonprofit American Battlefield Trust, alleged it was illegal for the Board of County Supervisors in December to grant an approval of 23 million square feet of data centers on roughly 2,100 acres along Pageland Lane in western Prince William near Gainesville. Plaintiffs argue their quality of life, as well as the nearby historical resources such as the Manassas Battlefield National Park, will be blemished by “drab behemoth” data centers that will “change the Properties from a rare island of rural living in Northern Virginia into a dystopian hellscape.” A group of Gainesville-area residents and an activist organization sued Prince William County and two tech developers on Friday to block construction of the PW Digital Gateway, which is expected to become the largest data center corridor in the world.
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