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Athens Banner-Herald
Police report: Georgia football players drove 105 mph before arrest
- Story byAthens Banner-Herald
- Police report: Georgia football players drove 105 mph before arrest
The Georgia football players arrested on the night of Feb. 18 for reckless driving and speeding were each driving 2025 Mercedes SUVs 105 miles per hour—40 miles per hour over the speed limit—on the Outer 10 Loop in Athens, according to police.
Linebacker Chris Cole, driving a black SUV, was recorded at 105 miles per hour on a speed measurement device and linebacker Darren Ikinnagbon, driving a white SUV, was an estimated 10 feet behind him was neither gaining or falling back and was also estimated to be going 105 by the officer, according to an Athens-Clarke County police incident report obtained Tuesday Feb. 24 by the Athens Banner-Herald. Both SUVs passed 6 or 7 other vehicles on the road.
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A police officer near the Olympic Drive exit used a Dragoneve LIDAR device, The officer "was watching traffic, primarily looking for speeders," at about 9:10 p.m.
When the officer pulled to the edge of the road, both vehicles slowed to about 60 miles per hour, the report said. The officer turned on his blue lights and after a quarter of a mile his siren "but it also proved to be of no avail," the report said.
"The second car was still following the first vehicle rather closely," the report said. "Both vehicles remained in the left lane, not yielding to my emergency equipment for roughly one mile. Once we got onto US 29 N, the black SUV changed lanes, followed by the white one. I decided to try to get a good read on the license plate of the black SUV, which I couldn't see, so I changed lanes and got beside the white one - this maneuver prompted both vehicles to yield and pull over."
Cole, 20, a sophomore from Roanoke, Va., was charged with the two misdemeanors. Ikinnagbon, 18, a freshman from Hillside, N.J., was charged with three including following too closely.
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"Driving at 105 MPH on the moderately trafficked roadway at 2112 HRS is not only life-threatening to themselves but also to every motorist on the road," the incident report said. "At such high speeds, if a situation necessitated an emergency braking, their stopping distance would be far longer than if they had been driving the speed limit. Ikinnagbon's decision to drive at such an egregious speed at an equally egregious distance further added to the hazard imposed on motorists."
The police report said "a UGA Football coach retrieved their vehicles," after they were arrested.
Cole and Ikinnagbon both posted separately on social media their regrets for their actions the day after the arrests.
A Georgia athletics spokesman said after the arrest: "We are aware of the charges and are actively gathering additional information. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not be providing further comment at this time."
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Police report details on Georgia football players' driving arrest
