An 85-year-old cigar-smoking Florida man has been accused of street racing and hitting over 100 mph before being pulled over and telling police he was only out enjoying a late-night drive in his “favorite car.”
The incident happened at around 11:30 p.m. on June 12 when an officer from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office clocked Williams Bosworth’s Nissan 350Z convertible racing a red Chevrolet Corvette in a 45 mph zone in Leesburg, about an hour outside of Orlando, CBS12 reported.
Body camera footage obtained by WKMG News 6 shows an officer approaching Bosworth’s car after being pulled over, demanding that he turn off his car while puffing on a cigarillo.
The deputy then tells the 85-year-old that he clocked him at 110 mph and the Corvette at 125 mph.
Bosworth tells the officer that the other driver “swerved” at him and he was only driving that fast to get away from them while he was “out having a ride in my favorite car.”
“Listen, Mr. Bosworth. I wasn’t born last night,” the officer tells him. “I know what street racing looks like when I see it. You guys were street racing.”
Bosworth remained adamant to the officer that he wasn’t street racing.
“I never intended to cause anyone any problems, and I don’t want any problems,” Bosworth tells the cop, as he hands over his license and registration.
The officer wasn’t buying it and explained Florida’s super speeder law to Bosworth before ordering him out of the car and put in cuffs.
“I wasn’t street racing,” the 85-year-old again tells the officer.
“Okay, well you might not call it street racing, you might call it highway racing, road racing. Whatever you want to call it . . . whatever you’re doing, we don’t condone that here in Lake County,” the officer replied.
Bosworth was then arrested for driving over 100 mph and charged with street racing and dangerous excessive speeding, CBS12 reported.
The driver of the red Corvette, Philip Signorino, 57, was also pulled over by another officer up the road and arrested on the same charges.
Both men denied racing and later posted bond, according to jail records obtained by the outlet.
Under Florida’s super speeder law, drivers caught going 50 mph or more over the posted limit — or topping 100 mph regardless of the posted limit — can be arrested, with the offense treated as a criminal offense rather than a routine traffic ticket.
Convictions can result in fines, license suspension and, in some cases, jail time.
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