According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, a 19-year-old suspect in Florida led police on a high-speed drive that reached 100 mph. He did this not to get away from the police, but just for fun. At around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 4, the young driver of a BMW car ran a red light and sped past Corporal Jordan Tripp of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. This started a chase through the streets southwest of Ocala.
The sheriff’s office said that Corporal Tripp, who was stopped at the red light at first, used the emergency systems in his police car to try to catch the speeding car. The chase was soon called off, though, because the driver was going too fast and making too many turns, especially when he went into a private area, which made people worried about their safety.
The chase stopped for a while when the driver of the BMW lost control and went off the road into a field. Even so, as the officers got closer, the driver took back control, ran through another red light, and then fled the scene of the crime. Not long after, other officers caught up with the car and forced the driver to pull over at a gas station. Corporal Milton Manchester then led the arrest.
When the young driver turned himself in, he did what the cops asked by throwing his keys out to them. He was then arrested without any further problems. When asked why he was taking the dangerous trip, he honestly said he was looking for a thrill and thought he could avoid being caught just for the fun of it.
The teenager is now facing the chance of a 5-year prison sentence after being charged with fleeing and eluding police, which is a serious crime that carries the weight of a third-degree felony. This high-speed incident, which was caught on dash cam and is getting a lot of attention online, is a stark warning of what happens when people drive carelessly and use public roads for their own pleasure. Ocala, which is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando, was the setting for this scary but important story.
