Former professional South African rugby player Pedrie Wannenburg died Friday in Houston in a police car chase started by a teenager who fled a traffic stop, according to officials.
Wannenburg, 41, was driving northbound around 6 p.m. with his wife in the front seat and their 10-year-old daughter Isabelle and 8-year-old son Pedrie Jr. in the back, when 16-year-old Ali Alabadi, driving southbound, hit another car and crossed the median, slamming into Wannenburg’s car, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.
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Harris County sheriff’s deputies were trying to pull Alabadi over when he sped off instead, reaching up to 100 mph before the series of crashes.
In total, Alabadi hit at least two other cars, and a fourth collided after being unable to stop in time. Another driver, Kathy Lawson, was also hospitalized with injuries.
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Alabadi and his two teenage passengers, both 16, have also been hospitalized.
Wannenburg and his son were immediately rushed to the hospital, where the father was pronounced dead an hour later. Pedrie was listed in critical condition as of Saturday and a spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily News Sunday.
His wife, Evette, and daughter, Isabelle, were uninjured.
Alabadi has been charged with felony murder, reckless aggravated assault serious bodily injury and aggravated assault bodily injury with deadly weapon.
Wannenburg played for the South African Bulls from 2002 to 2010, securing three Super Rugby titles and five Currie Cups before playing in Europe for Ulster in Ireland and Castres in France. In the U.S., he served as team captain for the Denver Stampede, then moved over to the Austin Elite, which he also coached after retiring in 2018.
“Pedrie will be remembered as one of the first real versatile loose forwards who could play in any position in the back row and even though he played in only 20 tests, his record in the colors of the Bulls, during a period where they dominated on all levels, is nearly unmatched,” Mark Alexander, president of the South Africa national rugby union team, said in a statement.
“Pedrie was a fun-loving and hard-working man and someone who gave all he had on the pitch, but afterwards always had a smile on his face. He represented his country with aplomb — who will ever forget the try he scored in the narrow victory over the All Blacks in Rustenburg in 2006?
“To lose someone at the cusp of the rest of his life with a young family, after a long and storied rugby career is extremely sad and our thoughts are with his wife, Evette, their two children, Isabelle and Francois, as well as his parents and other family members, loved ones and friends during this very difficult time.”
