Mom allegedly helped teen buy alcohol before fatal DUI crash

An Alameda mom who allegedly helped a teenage girl buy alcohol just hours before the youth was killed in a drunk-driving crash has been arrested in connection with the fatal accident, state officials reported Wednesday.

Amelia Chin, 51, is accused of accompanying the 17-year-old girl to the Good N Rich Daily Market in South San Francisco last February and standing by as Margaret Qaqish bought beer and wine coolers, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control reported.  

Qaqish was killed early the next morning when the car in which she was riding crashed on southbound Highway 101 in Brisbane.

The driver had a blood alcohol level of .15 -- roughly double the legal limit, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The group of friends was "talking loudly about what radio station to listen to," and the driver didn't realize that traffic in front of him had stopped, said San Mateo County Dist. Atty. Steve Wagstaffe.

Qaqish, who was sitting in the middle of the rear seat, was thrown forward when the car slid into another vehicle. A senior at Baden High School in South San Francisco, Qaqish died at a hospital just a week before her 18th birthday.

The 18-year-old driver, Sean Quintero, is now facing felony drunk-driving charges.

Chin is the mother of one of Qaquish' friends, the ABC reported.

The clerk at the market, Abduhl Azeem Buksh, 45, was also arrested in connection with the fatal crash. ABC said it is now seeking additional disciplinary action against Buksh and his wife, who own the market.

Buksh's attorney, John Forsyth, disputed the state's description of what happened, saying that although Qaqish was in the store, surveillance video shows his client actually sold the alcohol to Chin.

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-- Steve Marble