A 36-year-old woman is accused of serving alcohol to three teens that died in a car crash last month in Plano, arrest documents show.
The teens died on Feb. 17 after the BMW sedan they were riding inside hit two trees, split in half and traveled more than 150 feet before catching fire around 3 a.m., authorities said.
Detectives determined during the investigation that speed and alcohol were contributing factors to the crash.
New arrest documents show that 36-year-old Yu Gao served the teens alcohol at Focus BBQ, a restaurant on West Spring Creek Parkway in Plano.
She was arrested on Feb. 28 and now faces three charges of alcohol sale to a minor, as well as one charge of sale of an alcoholic beverage during prohibited hours.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is currently investigating the restaurant as well.
The driver was identified as 18-year-old Yuxuan Wang. The passengers were identified as 16-year-old Yuchen Jin and 18-year-old Jin Chen.
Plano ISD confirmed two of the teens were current Plano students, and the third was a former student.
"When it struck that second tree, the impact was on the side of vehicle, causing the vehicle to split in two," Plano police spokesperson David Tilley said.
The accident scene along Hedgcoxe Road was so horrific and widespread first responders first thought there were two cars involved. When the fire department got closer, they realized it was a solo vehicle crash.
Neighbors told WFAA that the area of the crash is notorious for speeding and that Plano police are aware of the dynamics of that road: it's a long straight-away with a slight curve.
Gao's arrest documents show that the teens arrived at the restaurant around 1 a.m. on Feb. 17.
Those arrest documents reveal that surveillance footage captures Gao filling a large plastic vase-shaped container that had a pouring spout with beer and bringing it to the teens.
At no point, per the documents, did the teens ever produce any form of identification to Gao to verify their age.
Investigators wrote that the surveillance footage that night showed Gao filling up another container of beer for the teens around 2:09 a.m., nine minutes after serving hours.
The documents reveal that the boys finished the second container of beer and left around 3:11 a.m.
The crash, per detectives, happened 30 minutes later.
The arrest documents also said that a family friend of Chen's showed detectives videos of the teens moments before the crash that were posted on social media.
A family member told investigators that the teens appeared intoxicated, however, blood toxicology results have not been returned.
Gao's arrest documents reveal that the 36-year-old is a Chinese national.
She must wear a GPS monitor, has a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., and must surrender her passports as well as visas.
Per the owner of Focus BBQ, the restaurant is still open but he did not provide comment.
Investigators wrote in Gao's arrest documents that, "...it was common knowledge in the Chinese teenager community that the restaurant sold beer to minors."