FHP: Motorcyclists, including firefighter, face felony charges of eluding law enforcement

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Highway Patrol says it clocked two motorcyclists in Jacksonville over the weekend traveling at speeds over 100 mph on area highways.

Both were stopped, FHP said, and face felony charges of eluding police.

According to FHP, Roderic Brown, 33, sped past a trooper Saturday on I-295 as he came off the Buckman Bridge, where he was clocked at 94 mph. FHP said a trooper got behind him and put his lights on, but Brown sped up, hitting 120 mph and he weaved in and out of traffic.

Troopers said Brown was eventually pulled over and arrested on I-95 south.

News4JAX spoke with Michael Dobbs, who used to work for the FHP. He’s now the owner of Jacksonville Motorcycle Safety Training.

“If you’re going at that speed and you crash, 99 percent of the time it’s fatal because you can’t win at 120 mph. And that’s why you need to stay at the proper speed limit,” Dobbs said.

The FHP said that later in the day, John Overton, a 20-year-old firefighter with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, was spotted speeding north on I-95 near J. Turner Butler Boulevard. Troopers said Overton got to the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and headed back southbound on I-95, where FHP said its air asset clocked the motorcyclist traveling at over 100 mph.

FHP said the plane followed Overton to his home, where troopers arrived and arrested him.

JFRD said Overton was assigned to desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.