Gwinnett man dies after crashing Maserati into DeKalb home

A Gwinnett County man was killed early Wednesday after he sped away from a Georgia State Patrol trooper in Buckhead and crashed his Maserati into a DeKalb County home, authorities said.

“Right now, speed is apparently a factor, possible intoxication of the driver,” Georgia State Patrol Sgt. Stacey Collins said. “But all that’s under investigation.”

The trooper stopped the Maserati at Peachtree and Lenox roads in Buckhead just before 2:35 a.m.

“The vehicle was initially stopped for failure to maintain lane, move over law and stopping across the stop-bar,” Collins said.

The driver of the Maserati, identified as 44-year-old Vance Whetstone Jr. of Duluth, sped off as the trooper approached his car, according to the Georgia State Patrol. A chase began. At one point in the chase, the trooper lost the Maserati but was later notified of the car’s direction of travel, Collins said.

Whetstone went through the Brookhaven area, where he crashed into a home in the 1600 block of North Druid Hills Road just before 3 a.m., officials said.

Officials are investigating a crash that left the driver of a Maserati dead Wednesday. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

The homeowner told Channel 2 Action News he was inside the residence when he "heard a thunderous boom" and the Maserati crashed through the front room.

Troopers didn’t find the car until Brookhaven police notified them of a crash involving a Maserati.

Whetstone was taken to Northside Hospital, where he died.

No one inside the home at the time of the accident was injured. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

A woman in the car at the time of the crash had non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

She told the Georgia State Patrol she did not know Whetstone and was just getting a ride.

The crash caused structural damage to the home, but no one inside the home at the time of the accident was injured, Collins said.