Shakari Richardson, an Olympic gold medalist, anxiously pleaded with a police officer in Florida to avoid being taken to jail after a speeding incident where she reportedly reached 164 mph due to a tire issue with her luxury car. This confrontation was captured on police body camera footage.
On Thursday afternoon in Winter Park, Richardson was driving her Aston Martin at speeds of up to 110 mph while weaving in and out of traffic, even cutting off a police vehicle attempting to pull her over. The details were reported in a video acquired by Fox News Digital.
The sergeant, identified as Gerald McDaniels, approached her car and firmly stated that she was being stopped for dangerously excessive speed. He expressed that her driving was quite reckless.
In a fluster, the 25-year-old athlete attempted to justify her speed, mentioning that the rear tires were low on air pressure.
Richardson also suggested that her mobile phone had inadvertently altered the settings in her car, which led to her speeding, although officers did not confirm this claim. McDaniels highlighted her various unsafe driving behaviors, including speeding through a residential area, cutting too closely to other vehicles, and using hazard lights while changing lanes.
When confronted about not realizing her speed, she reiterated her belief that she wasn’t intentionally racing, but the officer brought up her speedometer as evidence of her driving behavior.
The footage shows Richardson declaring that she really didn’t want to go to jail while admitting she had no intention of breaking any laws. “I’m a law-abiding citizen,” she said, visibly distressed at the situation.
In the end, she was arrested and taken to the Orange County Jail, facing charges for dangerous speeding exceeding 100 mph along with four additional traffic violations.
Desperately, she pleaded, “Please, sir. I wasn’t speeding on purpose… I promise I don’t want to go to jail.”
Interestingly, this isn’t her first run-in with the law. In July, Richardson was arrested on domestic violence charges related to an incident involving her boyfriend, fellow sprinter Christian Coleman, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
During the same traffic stop, Coleman was also arrested on drug paraphernalia charges and resisting an officer without violence. Fellow Team USA sprinter Twanisha Terry received a ticket for stopping on a restricted highway after she arrived at the scene to check on her friends.
Coleman later managed to post a $1,000 cash bond for himself and $500 for Richardson.
