FLORIDA — The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) reported the arrest of a so-called “speed racer” who allegedly drove at 126 mph while weaving in and out of traffic in Fort Myers, showing no regard for the safety of other drivers.
According to the FHP, a trooper who was traveling westbound on State Road 80 near East Cowboy Way reported observing a black sedan-type vehicle traveling in the eastbound lane at reckless and excessive speeds estimated to be approximately 130 miles per hour (mph) in a 60 mph zone.
The trooper said that he saw on his radar that the driver was going 126 miles per hour, so he did a U-turn to stop the car.
As the trooper tried to catch up to the speeding car, he said the driver turned south onto Wellington Parkway, sped up, and then lost control of the car, which was identified as a black Ford Mustang with two silver stripes running from front to back.
The trooper also said he noticed that the rear bumper cover appeared missing or damaged.
The trooper said he kept following the Mustang and turned on his lights as the suspect vehicle allegedly sped up to more than 100 mph and didn’t stop at an intersection where there was a stop sign.
After the car ran down a dirt road and onto County Road 832, the trooper lost sight of it.
Several days later, on September 12, the FHP was contacted by Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, who said it had observed traffic cameras during the incident and reported that the suspect vehicle’s tag number was registered to a 2005 Ford Mustang registered to Riley Crews Gutierrez, 19, of Fort Myers.
On September 13, members of the FHP Criminal Interdiction Unit (CIU) arrested Gutierrez at his home. When they got there, troopers said they found the suspect’s car and saw that it looked different, that the silver stripes had been painted over, and that the hood had been removed.
Gutierrez is charged with fleeing and eluding with disregard for safety to persons or officers, altering, destroying, concealing, or removing physical evidence, reckless driving, speeding in excess of 50 miles per hour, and running a stop sign.
He was transported to the Hendry County Jail.
