Lead foot leads super-speeders to legal trouble

HERNANDO, Fla. - Speeding on local roads is never a good idea, but doing it at the end of the school day means students and other drivers are pulling out onto the roadways and that creates a hazardous situation.

Hernando County Sheriff's Office makes sure that they have appropriate traffic enforcement units in the area of Nature Coast High School to make sure that everything is safe for the young drivers and walkers leaving the campus.

The backstory:

Thursday afternoon, Deputy B. Croft was on patrol westbound on Powell Road when he spotted two drivers racing each other in the eastbound lanes. 

He was able to clock the lead vehicle, a Ford Mustang, at 101 miles per hour in the 55 MPH posted area. It was followed closely by a Volkswagen going the same speed.

Super Speeders arrested

Deputy Croft recognized that the real danger was ahead of those drivers as they were heading towards California Street where Nature Coast High School had just been released for the afternoon.

As Croft gave chase, he noted that alert crossing guards helped hold kids back from entering the roadway as he caught up to the Volkswagen. 

He ordered that driver to follow him as he made the turn onto California Street where he stopped the Mustang driver.

The high school students and faculty were exiting the school's parking lot at the time of the traffic stop.

What we know:

The driver of the Ford Mustang, Dakota Turner, was arrested immediately as Deputy Croft brought him out of the vehicle. The driver of a Volkswagen, Travis Kirkman, was also arrested on the scene.

Both drivers were charged with reckless driving and for racing on a public highway.  

Courtesy: Hernando County Jail

Dig deeper:

Under Florida's Racing Statute, which was implemented to allow for law enforcement to enforce street takeovers and super speeders. Both drivers had their vehicles impounded. 

They were taken to the Hernando County Jail and booked on their criminal charges. 

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They face the prospect of losing their vehicle for up to 30 days with the impound feed that go with that.

If convicted of the charges, they also face a mandatory loss of their driver's license for a year, a $1000 fine and potential jail time.

What's next:

Dakota Turner was booked into the jail and given a $1000 bond on both counts. He was also given a December 3 court date to answer for the charges.

Travis Kirkman had a prior criminal history including other traffic violations including a "habitual offender" label, his bond was set at $10,000 and $5,000 on the two counts against him. He was also given a court date of December 3 to follow up on the case.