Teen Who Died in Accident Wasn't Car Surfing, Say Parents: Report

The parents of a Dallas teenager who died Sunday night following an automobile accident are disputing reports that he was “car surfing.”

The Georgia State Patrol, which is investigating the accident, said that Alex Desalis fell off the hood of a Jeep Wrangler that his friend was driving Saturday afternoon and was run over. The 16-year-old may have been “car surfing” before falling off, the state troopers said, according to WXIA-TV Channel 11 (11Alive).

Charges may be filed against the driver, a 16-year-old girl, pending the completion of the investigation of the accident, the Georgia State Patrol said Tuesday.

But Alex’s parents, Michelle and Kenneth Guthrie, told Channel 11 that they don’t want his friend to face criminal charges. “I don’t want probation. I don’t want her in jail,” Michelle Guthrie said. “It was an accident.”

It occurred at 2:41 p.m. Saturday on Ferguson Place, off Cartersville Highway (Georgia Route 61) in the northern part of Paulding County (see map below).

Alex’s parents said that as a joke, Alex got a ride from his friend for only a few yards down the road.

“It wasn’t a car surfing adventure,” Alex’s father, Kenneth Guthrie, told Channel 11, saying that Alex was trying to get a laugh by “twerking” on the Jeep’s hood.

After the accident, Alex was taken to WellStar Paulding Hospital in Hiram and then airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta in critical condition. He died Sunday evening.