Following the arrest of Olympic athlete Sha'Carri Richardson on Thursday, body cam footage of her being pulled over for dangerous excessive speeding surfaced. Orlando news station WKMG obtained it and in it, the 25-year-old begs the police officer to not hit her with jail time. As soon as he approached her Aston Martin DBX, Richardson was apologizing profusely.
She also claimed that she didn't know she was speeding at all, especially not around 35 miles per hour over the limit. The gold medalist was reportedly clocked traveling at 104 miles per hour on S.R. 429.
The Orange County PD says she was "dangerously tailgating" while recklessly trying to pass other motorists. Richardson tried to convince the officer that one of her tires had low air pressure and that she was assumedly trying to pull off to the side of the road.
However, the officer wasn't buying that one bit. Then, she claimed that her car was in a drive mode that makes it easier to increase your speed.
Sha'Carri Richardson Speeding Arrest
That didn't work either though, so Richardson resorted to promising the officer that she is a "law abiding citizen" and that she didn't mean to speed. But her emotional delivery didn't sway him. He stood firm on the fact Richardson was going to jail with a bond set at $500.
At one point he says, "You’re driving 104 miles an hour in a 65-mile-an-hour zone with sub-par equipment, flashing people to get out of your lane, following too close, using every lane to pass everybody, cutting me off, passing a car on the inside shoulder with their hazard lights on. You’re going to jail for dangerous excessive speeding."
She did in fact do so with her mugshot showing as much above. However, Richardson didn't stay behind Orange County jail bars for long as she posted bond earlier today.
The reason she did serve some time is because of Florida's law that's been in place since last July. In her case, she was driving 100 miles per hour or more and "in a manner that endanger[ed] people or property."
Due to this being a first-time offense, Richardson was duly given a $500 fine. However. up to 30 days in jail or both could have been the result as well.
