West Sacramento police arrest driver in suspected DUI crash that killed married couple
An Elk Grove man suspected of driving while intoxicated faces two counts of murder in connection with a head-on crash in West Sacramento that killed a married couple as they were driving home with their two children, police announced Tuesday evening.
Along with the murder charges, Gabriel Poletti was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence causing injury in last week’s fatal crash, according to a news release from the West Sacramento Police Department.
Rasul Afzili and his wife, Anila, died in the crash while driving from his mother’s home. The couple had been there to celebrate the Rasul’s birthday, his family has said.
Also in the vehicle that night were the couple’s children, 3-year-old Jannah and 7-month-old Azaan. The couple’s family says both children have since been treated and released from the hospital.
“My family is relieved to hear that there has been an arrest made in this heinous crime. We are hoping that justice will prevail, so that our family will be at peace,” Quaseem Afzili, Rasul’s brother, said in a written statement released Wednesday on behalf of the family. “We as a family unit are going to raise these beautiful, sweet and innocent children, so that they will remember their parents through stories and their love.”
The fatal crash occurred about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 15 on Jefferson Boulevard, between Gateway and Locks drives. Police said the children suffered minor to moderate injuries in the crash. Poletti suffered serious injuries in the crash and was hospitalized, according to the news release.
Police said information gathered in the investigation indicated Poletti may have been driving under the influence. On Tuesday, investigators obtained a felony no-bail Ramey arrest warrant for Poletti, who was later arrested at a relative’s home in Sacramento, according to the news release. He was being booked at the Yolo County Jail on Tuesday evening.
Poletti, 27, was convicted of driving under the influence in 2016, according to the Police Department. Drivers in California with a previous DUI conviction can be charged with murder in a subsequent suspected DUI-related crash that results in death. The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office has not yet formally charged Poletti.
The couple’s family has said the Afzilis were “amazing parents” and loved their children very much. Rasul owned a popular food truck called Gyro King.
The family has created a GoFundMe online fundraiser to help the couple’s relatives care for their children. As of Tuesday, the family had raised nearly $580,000 that the family plans to use for the children’s college education and the rest of their future.
Naeema Afzili, Rasul’s sister, thanked the community for their support. She wrote on the GoFundMe page that the children will be adopted by relatives and “we will be raising them ourselves as their presence will fill the void of our beloved brother and sister-in-law who will truly be missed but never forgotten.”
Nicole Curran, a neighbor and family friend, said the couple’s family asked for the community’s prayers and wanted to remind everyone of how dangerous it is to drink and drive.
Investigators asked anyone with information about the crash to call the West Sacramento Police Department at 916-372-3375.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 7:09 PM.
