There are ordinary speeding stops, and then there’s whatever unfolded on U.S. Highway 27 last week. Lake County deputies say they pulled over an 85-year-old man clocked at 110 mph in a 45 mph zone in the middle of the night. He didn’t really dispute the speed. What he disputed was the reason for it — and that’s where this stops being a routine traffic story.
William Bosworth of Leesburg now faces two charges after deputies say they caught him running alongside another car late on June 12. According to an arrest affidavit, this wasn’t a simple heavy-foot moment. Investigators believe his gray sports car and a red Corvette beside it were street racing on a public highway at speeds that would be reckless on a closed track, let alone a road shared with regular traffic.
What Deputies Say Happened
It started around 11:40 p.m. near the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and County Road 33 in Leesburg, where a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy reported spotting two cars tearing down the road side by side. The explanation Bosworth offered that night is now part of the official record — and his own words ended up working against him.
The Excuse That Made It Worse
Here’s the turn. When the deputy raised the racing accusation, Bosworth pushed back hard, insisting he wasn’t racing anyone. He claimed the other driver had swerved at him and that he only hit 110 mph trying to put distance between the two cars before something went wrong. Read that again: his defense for doing 110 in a 45 was that he was driving fast to avoid danger. That reasoning doesn’t undo the speed — it confirms it. He also told the deputy he was simply out enjoying the car he loves most, a charming line and a terrible legal argument delivered in the same breath.
To his credit, Bosworth cooperated. He stepped out when asked and was handcuffed without any struggle, then taken into custody on the side of the road.
The Question It Raises
If a deputy can catch an 85-year-old at 110 mph — with the other car reportedly moving even faster — what’s happening with the drivers who do this routinely and never get stopped? Street racing tends to live in the gap between what people get away with and what finally lands on camera. This time, it landed on camera.
The Part Enthusiasts Should Sit With
Car people understand the pull of a favorite machine and an open road at night. That feeling is real, and it isn’t the problem here. The problem is doing it at more than double the limit on a highway where everyone else is just trying to get home safely. Enthusiasts already spend plenty of energy defending car culture against clumsy crackdowns; stops like this make that harder by handing critics an easy headline and a ready-made villain. Bosworth’s case will now move through the Lake County court system like any other.
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