The Red Bluff section of the California Highway Patrol is facing backlash after not arresting an unlicensed McLaren driver, and also deleting their social media post about the incident. Earlier this month, a California Highway Patrol unit out of Red Bluff, California caught a speeding and unlicensed driver behind the wheel of a McLaren 570S Spider. The CHP branch made a post about the incident on their Facebook page, stating that the driver was going 151 miles per hour—but instead of arresting the driver and impounding the car, the driver was ticketed, and his wife sitting shotgun was allowed to drive the McLaren home.
Then, as KRCR News reports, CHP Red Bluff removed the Facebook post from their page hours after it was posted. Drivers getting clocked going well over 100 mph is not all that uncommon. We've previously reported about a New Hampshire driver being arrested for going 161 mph in a Corvette, a Florida man arrested for driving a Dodge Challenger at 155 mph, and a Ford Mustang driver in California arrested for driving 139 mph. The common theme in all these cases: the driver is arrested.
View Price on AmazonSo, what makes this recent McLaren incident different? In the now-deleted Facebook post that was saved by KRCR News, CHP Red Bluff announced that the driver was cited for excessive speed and driving without a license. But why no arrest or impound? According to the social media post, “The officer exercised discretion and released the vehicle to the licensed passenger—the driver’s wife. Her reaction suggested that the consequences of his choices weren’t ending with the citation.”
Unfortunately for CHP Red Bluff, the branch is learning that the internet never forgets. The post may have been taken down, but people want answers as to why there was no arrest in this case. Since this incident, CHP Red Bluff has made several new posts on their Facebook page for unrelated topics ranging from wishing a happy Mother’s Day to a story about a car seat check event ... and each post is filled with comments from people asking about the speeding McLaren incident.
KRCR News reached out to CHP Red Bluff to ask about the incident, and why the post was taken down. A CHP lieutenant told KRCR that they backed the officer's discretion and decision not to impound the car; CHP went on to say they removed the post because it was determined to be "not appropriate." CHP officers put themselves in harm’s way every day, and situations on the roadside are rarely as simple as they appear in a Facebook post; officers are often forced to make judgment calls based on factors the public never sees.
Source: roadandtrack.com
