DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No criminal charges or traffic citations have been filed in connection with a YouTube channel that featured motorcycles on Central Florida roadways appearing to weave through traffic at speeds exceeding 150 mph, running red lights and performing risky stunts, records obtained by News 6 show.
Although the Florida Highway Patrol obtained the name and home address of a Winter Park man associated with the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel, an FHP investigator claimed there was “no way” to positively identify the motorcycle operator seen in the videos, internal FHP emails reveal.
Just weeks after FHP began reviewing that YouTube channel, police in South Carolina arrested a Charleston man who allegedly posted unrelated but similar videos on Instagram that showed a motorcycle appearing to speed more than 140 mph through their state.
In that case, South Carolina authorities obtained a search warrant for the suspected motorcyclist’s apartment and seized evidence like clothing and GoPro camera footage that they said established probable cause to arrest him for reckless driving and other criminal offenses.
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“This is exactly why traffic enforcement exists,” a Charleston Police Department investigator said in a news release announcing the Instagram user’s arrest. “If he had struck a vehicle at those speeds, someone inside likely would not have survived.”
There is no indication FHP sought search warrants related to the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel, emails obtained by News 6 through a public record request show, and the agency has not responded to questions about its efforts to identify the Central Florida motorcycle operator.
Law enforcement officials and prosecutors often face challenges proving who is operating vehicles seen in social media videos without witnesses who can identify the drivers.
But those challenges can occasionally be overcome.
Last year a motorcycle vlogger known as Gixxer Brah pleaded guilty to exhibition of speed and was sentenced to two weeks in jail after allegedly publishing a YouTube video titled “From Colorado Springs to Denver in 20 minutes”, according to Road & Track.
“I just put their life in danger!” Central Florida YouTuber exclaims
The Winter Park Police Department received an email from a “concerned Central Florida resident” in April reporting a YouTube channel that featured motorcycles appearing to drive dangerously through that city and other nearby communities, records obtained by News 6 show.
“Watch out! Here comes a menace!”, an unidentified motorcycle operator can be heard exclaiming in one of the YouTube videos while appearing to speed down Semoran Boulevard. “I just put their life in danger!”
Another video appeared to show a motorcycle doing a wheelie on State Road 436, passing other vehicles as the speedometer read 154 mph and narrowly avoiding a collision with an oncoming vehicle that was making a U-turn.
The citizen complaint indicated the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel was associated with Winter Park resident Dallas Ashley, emails show.
[VIDEO: Grandson of NASCAR CEO linked to YouTube channel of Central Florida road stunts]
Ashley, who is the grandson of NASCAR chief executive Jim France and the great-grandson of the racing company’s founder Bill France, Sr., is featured in some of the YouTube videos providing tips on how to safely operate motorcycles.
Most other videos on the YouTube channel showed an unidentified man riding motorcycles through Central Florida at what appeared to be illegal speeds and performing dangerous maneuvers around other motorists.
The footage was captured by a camera mounted on the operator’s helmet that displayed the rider’s point of view. Shots showing the biker’s face were intentionally blurred in the YouTube videos.
During a phone call with News 6 in May, Ashley repeatedly denied he was the biker who appeared in the videos performing risky stunts and suggested some of the footage may have been digitally altered for entertainment purposes.
“You can’t prove who was riding,” Ashley told News 6. “You can’t trust anything you see on the internet.”
Winter Park police forwarded the citizen’s complaint to FHP, emails show, along with information about Ashley including his home address and driver license number.
Records indicate FHP Sgt. Jorge Diaz contacted FHP’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence to request information about issuing a subpoena to YouTube.
“I have since discussed this case with Sgt. Diaz, specifically the difficulties in determining that an individual is the actual person in the video at the time of the offense when they are not showing their face under the guise of a full-face helmet,” Lt. Dave Rodriguez wrote in an email thread with FHP colleagues that used the subject line “Dangerous Motorcycle”.
“The account being owned by an individual is not enough to charge,” Rodriguez said. ”Best case scenario would be to catch him in the act, make a positive ID on the individual during the offense.”
Diaz later determined “there was no way to positively identify the operator of the motorcycle in the videos”, an FHP captain wrote in another email.
Two days after Winter Park police alerted FHP to the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel, News 6 contacted Ashley by phone with questions about his involvement in the channel.
“I do have concerns for other people,” Ashley said. “Is anybody going to get injured? Hopefully not.”
Shortly after that phone call, more than 120 videos on the YouTube channel were deleted or set to private and could no longer be viewed publicly.
YouTube later removed some of the videos for violating the company’s policies that prohibit content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities, a YouTube spokesperson said.
FHP records obtained by News 6 do not indicate whether the agency attempted to save the videos before they were removed from the channel or sought copies from YouTube through a subpoena.
Ashley has not been charged with any crimes or issued any traffic citations stemming from the YouTube channel, court records show, and there is no indication anyone else has been charged in connection with the videos.
Videos on the “Speed Demon 407″ YouTube channel were posted prior to the enforcement of Florida’s new “super speeder” law, which took effect July 1.
Under the “Dangerous Excessive Speeding Act,” anyone convicted of operating a motor vehicle 50 mph or more above the posted speed limit, or driving 100 mph or more “in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property or interferes with the operation of any vehicle,” can be sentenced to a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense.
South Carolina man arrested over Instagram videos of speeding motorcycles
At the same time FHP was reviewing the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel, South Carolina authorities were investigating an unrelated Instagram account that featured similar videos of motorcycles appearing to speed more than 140 mph through that state.
The Charleston Police Department received two citizen complaints about the videos in February, court records show. The agency also became aware of social media posts reporting dangerous and illegal activity on nearby roads.
Although many of the videos appeared to have been recorded in South Carolina, some were captured in Florida, including one that appears to show the motorcycle fleeing from an FHP trooper who had activated the patrol car’s lights.
The motorcycle operator’s face is obscured by a helmet and visor in the Instagram videos, so investigators initially did not know who the biker might be.
Police later identified Raymon Enoch Ortiz as a possible suspect through photos and other clues posted on the Instagram page, court records indicate. Investigators also obtained information from citizens linking the motorcycle videos to Ortiz’s apartment complex.
Charleston Police obtained a search warrant for Ortiz’s apartment where they seized numerous items including a motorcycle, helmet, gloves, boots and a GoPro camera, the arrest report shows.
Another search warrant was obtained for Ortiz’s online GoPro account which produced 1.4 terabytes of video footage, investigators said.
The GoPro footage included GPS and telemetry data that documented the locations where the videos were recorded and the speeds the camera was travelling, court records indicate.
Based on the items seized from Ortiz’s apartment, social media evidence, citizen complaints and state vehicle records, Charleston Police convinced a judge there was probable cause to issue warrants for Ortiz’s arrest.
Florida authorities located Ortiz at a house in Jacksonville, Florida on June 16 and arrested him on out-of-state warrants for more than 30 criminal counts including reckless driving, racing, driving without a license, and leaving the scene of a collision.
“I’m looking forward to going to court and proving my innocence,” Ortiz told a judge when he was returned to South Carolina to face trial. “I do apologize for any trouble I have caused.”
Besides posting Instagram videos of reckless motorcycle riding, police say Ortiz sold merchandise online that included hoodies and t-shirts containing the words “No Face No Case”.
“No Face No Case” is a slogan used by some social media content creators who believe law enforcement cannot prove a criminal case against someone whose face is obscured.
“His so-called ‘No Face No Case’ branding is a weak attempt to antagonize law enforcement. But we are not the ones at risk,” said Charleston Police Department lead traffic investigator Sgt. Kyle Ryan. “The real victims are the innocent drivers, passengers, and pedestrians who are forced to share the road with people like [Ortiz]. If he had struck a vehicle at those speeds, someone inside likely would not have survived.”
Ryan said traffic enforcement is not solely about writing tickets.
“It’s about preventing tragedy and holding people accountable before someone loses their life or gets seriously injured,” he said.
FHP not answering questions about YouTube channel review
Internal emails confirm FHP personnel were aware that Ashley is linked to a “high profile family”, but there is no indication Ashley’s relationship to the billionaire owners of NASCAR played any role in how the agency conducted its review.
FHP representatives did not respond to multiple emails from News 6 inquiring why it did not seek search warrants as part of its review of the “Speed Demon 407” YouTube channel.
Likewise, FHP spokespeople declined an opportunity to comment on the fairness of comparing its review to the Charleston Police Department’s criminal investigation that led to Ortiz’s arrest.
FHP did not disclose to News 6 whether it had been in contact with South Carolina authorities about a video allegedly posted on Ortiz’s Instagram page that appears to show a motorcycle fleeing from an FHP trooper in Jacksonville, nor did the agency explain why the trooper tried to stop the motorcycle.