One hundred twenty miles per hour. That’s how fast police said two drivers were going on a Jacksonville bridge.
One of the drivers was put behind bars. The arrest stemmed from a weekend traffic enforcement called ‘Operation Double Down.’ The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the response came from intelligence gathered about illegal car meetups that were planned.
The enforcement led to a now-viral video the department shared on social media, showing two cars driving next to each other along the Buckman Bridge on Friday, Aug. 14 just before 10:15 p.m. In the video, one driver sticks his arm out the window, appearing to be counting down with his fingers before the two cars speed off, reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour, according to JSO.
Those drivers were unaware that right behind them was a JSO officer with the Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit in an unmarked SUV.
“We’ve had some increase in car meetups and street racing,” said JSO Specialized Patrol Commander Nicholas Damone Jr.
“Most are behaving and showing off their cars, but then there’s that small 10 percent that don’t know how to behave and leave the car meets and drive like you saw in the video.”
First Coast News has been covering some of the recent responses to illegal car meetups across Duval County. Those meetups usually happen in parking lots of local businesses, leading to street racing and speeding along local roads.
“You’re putting lives at risk, and quite frankly the officer that’s got to catch up to you to either put you in jail or write that infraction,” said Damone Jr. “You’re putting their lives at risk to get through traffic to try to save someone else’s life.”
Damone Jr. said so far this year, JSO has issued 103 super speeder citations. That’s drivers going 50 over the speed limit or caught driving 100 miles per hour or more. Fifty-four of those super speeders were taken to jail, including 22-year-old Quashay Frazier, who’s captured in the viral dash camera street racing video. He’s facing felony and multiple misdemeanor charges.
During ‘Operation Double Down,’ the sheriff’s office said it made two felony arrests, eight misdemeanor arrests, issued 41 traffic citations and seized two vehicles.
Damone Jr. said he hopes the videos JSO shares on its social media will encourage drivers to think twice before making a life-changing decision on the roadway.
“Maybe just educating them that, ‘It’s not just a speeding ticket, but I can go to jail and my car can get seized for this,'” said Damone Jr.
There have been 116 reported traffic fatalities so far this year in Duval County, according to JSO. Damone Jr. said that number already surpasses the number of traffic fatalities this time last year by more than a dozen.
While speed is not the factor for all of them, it’s the behavior behind-the-wheel that can prevent deadly crashes.