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MILFORD - A Goshen teen and a Warsaw man were arrested Friday night after allegedly racing their Mustangs on Ind. 15 between Leesburg and Milford.
David A. Hart, 18, of Goshen, and Thomas S. Armey, 23, of 2303 S. CR 400W, Warsaw, were each charged with criminal recklessness, reckless driving and traffic offenses. Bond for each was set for $250.
According to a Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department report, a white Mustang passed Sgt. Floyd Knafel at a high rate of speed near the intersection of Ind. 15 and CR 900N. Knafel, who was southbound, was able to get a radar reading on the northbound car and locked it in at 101 mph. While Knafel was waiting for traffic to clear so that he could turn around and pursue the vehicle, a black Mustang also passed northbound at a high speed.
Knafel was able to apprehend the white Mustang, driven by Armey, and ordered him to remove the keys from the ignition and throw them out of the car. He then flagged down the black Mustang, driven by Hart, and repeated the process. Another county officer and a Milford officer also were at the scene of the traffic stop.
While Knafel was getting driver information, another vehicle stopped and the driver told Knafel that the two drivers in the Mustangs were racing prior to the traffic stop and that they passed him on a double-yellow line while traveling up a hill. The witness, Laural Nissley of Goshen, told Knafel that oncoming traffic had to veer away from the cars to avoid a head-on collision and the two drivers allegedly continued to race and pass cars after that. At one point, the vehicle ahead of Nissley reportedly had to put the brakes on so that one of the racing cars could get between it and another vehicle.
Two 19-year-old passengers in Hart's car reportedly told police that they were scared, both by the incident and being stopped by police. Armey's passengers were a 22-year-old female in her ninth month of pregnancy and a 2-year-old boy.
