ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Between March and June 25, Orange County sheriff’s deputies have issued 481 citations and made 56 arrests in the agency’s fight to stop illegal street racing in South Orange County.
On Monday, the Sheriff's Office released exclusive body camera video that appeared to show an 18-year-old woman pinned under the passenger side dashboard of a 2013 Toyota Scion after a high-speed drive early Sunday morning on South Park Circle.
Investigators said the driver took the license plate and fled the scene, leaving the passenger to fend for herself.
Deputies said the driver of the second vehicle involved in the crash, a 1990 Acura Integra, also fled the scene.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Lt. Kim Montes, said the injured woman refused to offer any details of the high-speed drive that left the car a contorted mess of twisted steel.
The speed limit where the crash occurred is 40 mph. It appeared the cars were traveling at a much higher rate of speed based on the damage of the two vehicles, according to investigators.
“She knows who was driving that car, she just hasn’t told FHP,” Montes said. “I know the Sheriff’s Office has been working very hard to try and combat and put these guys out of business, but they move around, they’re so mobile.”
According to the FHP report, in the Sunday morning crash that occurred at 1:36 a.m., two cars on South Park Circle near John Young Parkway collided at a high rate of speed.
Both drivers left the scene, then returned and denied the crash had anything to do with street racing, according to the report.
Capt. Bruce McMullen, of Orange County Sheriff’s Office's Sector IV, told said the evidence points to street racing.
“Based on my experience and judgment, the damage to those cars probably occurs at much higher speeds,” McMullen said. “One crash in the future is too many, and at high speeds, the likelihood of fatalities involved is even greater.”