ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WSVN) — Dangerous drivers turned Florida streets into their own racetrack, but their need for speed landed them behind bars.
Dashcam video showed the moment a Florida Highway Patrol trooper caught two cars street racing near the Gandy bridge in St. Petersburg.
Moments later, he caught up to a Mitsubishi Lancer and pulled over the driver, 24-year-old Erik Schoonover, who was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County jail.
He was charged with racing on the highway.
According to the arrest report, Schoonover was, “Accelerating away in a competition for speed at 100 miles per hour in a posted 55 mile per hour zone, and, “Admitted participation in the street race during the stop.”
Just hours later, video showed the moment two more drivers were stopped and charged with street racing in the same area. Troopers said the driver behind the wheel of a BMW and the driver in a Mercedes convertible, reached speeds of up to 130 mph and were participating in a roll race, which means that both vehicles started racing from a rolling start.
It’s a problem that can have dangerous and sometimes deadly outcomes. In January, a 13-year-old boy was hit and killed after St. Petersburg Police said he was struck by a speeding motorcycle illegally street racing.
“It’s one of the most horrific scenes I’ve dealt with in my 19-year career, and it’s something that’s completely avoidable and preventable,” said an officer. “And so we’re going to do everything we can to stop that.”
A new state law that went into effect in October cracks down on street racing and makes it so police don’t have to physically see the incident take place to go after violators.
That means if they just see a video of the incident, they can track down violators based on the license plates of the cars and the people in the video.
FHP are also urging people that if they hear about an illegal street race happening, to contact them or local police.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.