Olympic Medalist Faces Charges For Dangerous Excessive Speeding
The people who come to Florida looking for a slow pace of life tend to be retirees who settle in seniors only housing developments where it’s all fun and boring games of shuffleboard until an alligator picks off your pet dog as you take it for a walk beside a meandering river. Everyone else comes to Florida for high-speed fun. Whether you are jet skiing, parasailing, barreling down I-95 at a furious pace just because you can, or running stop signs in a residential neighborhood full of seashell pink houses behind front lawns cluttered with statues, going anywhere in Florida is more fun if you get there in record time. This is as dangerous as it sounds, but it is common enough in Florida that Florida lawmakers eventually drew a distinction between plain old speeding and speeding so fast that it will make your head spin. If you have been arrested for dangerous excessive speeding or another offense associated with dangerous driving, and your driver’s license is under suspension as a result, contact a West Palm Beach license reinstatement lawyer.
Star Athlete Arrested for Driving 100 Miles Per Hour
In the summer of 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 351 into law. This law defines the criminal offense of dangerous excessive speed at traveling at least 50 miles per hour above the speed limit. This excessive speed warrants misdemeanor charges, as opposed to plain old speeding, which just gets you a traffic ticket.
Meanwhile, Sha’Carri Richardson is no stranger to going fast. She won a gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics. On January 29, 2026, Richardson was driving on the highway at more than 100 miles per hour when the radar device in a police cruiser detected her speed, and the police signaled for her to pull over. The officer arrested Richardson on suspicion of dangerous excessive speeding, because the speed limit on the road where she was driving was 65 miles per hour. According to news reports, Richardson was booked into the Orange County jail, and she went free after posting a $500 bond.
The legal troubles arising from this traffic stop do not end there. The police also arrested Richardson’s boyfriend Christian Coleman, who was a passenger in the car. A vape device belonging to Coleman had a residue on it which tested positive for cannabis. Therefore, Coleman is facing charges for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both of these charges are minor; neither of them is a felony. Despite this, it is worthwhile to hire a criminal defense lawyer, even for misdemeanor charges. Misdemeanor convictions still show up on background checks, and there are some offenses that are misdemeanors for first offenses, but which become felonies in subsequent convictions.
Contact a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
Attorney William Wallshein has more than 41 years of experience, including five years as a prosecutor in Palm Beach County. Contact William Wallshein P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
theroot.com/how-shacarri-richardsons-speeding-arrest-led-to-her-boy-2000087465
