James Stewart Jr. arrested for impersonating a police officer in Orlando
San Manuel Yamaha rider and Central Florida motocross champion, James Stewart Jr., has landed himself in the spotlight once again, this time though, not because of some motocross accomplishment or accident. The 25-year-old African-American is in the news
because of getting arrested for impersonating a police officer on Monday, 28th March. According to reports, a second man, Quinault Jehrrod of California, was also arrested with Stewart.
Stewart, who is regarded as “Tiger Woods of supercross” by his fans, is apologetic to his fans and supporters for getting involved in such an incident. San Manuel said in a statement that, “Stewart is extremely sorry that the incident occurred and that any
negative inferences may arise that reflect poorly on his fans, his team, or his sponsors.”
The incident occurred at around 4:50 p.m. on Monday. Stewart and Jehrrod were driving a 2008 Toyota Tundra pickup on Florida’s Highway 417 in Orlando. Pulling in behind a vehicle, they activated a red and blue police-type lights located on the dash of his
truck to slow the vehicle down, and reportedly impersonated a police officer.
Stewart could not have selected a worse vehicle to play his trick on. Unfortunately for him, the car he stopped contained two off-duty Florida Highway Patrol troopers and an Osceola County deputy. The moment the driver displayed his badge and identified
himself as a law enforcer, the motocross champion allegedly sped off. The off-duty trooper had no intention of letting them off the hook that easily and got in pursuit. A quick call to 911 was made to ensure that Stewart and his passenger don’t make a getaway.
The duo eventually got pulled over a short while later by an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy and an Orlando Police officer at the Orlando International Airport. Reportedly, Jehrrod tried to hide the red and blue lights in his luggage but to no avail. Stewart
was charged with impersonating a police officer while his companion was charged with tampering with the evidence. Both charges are felonies. The two completely cooperated with the authorities however, as they were taken to the Orange County jail.
Stewart confessed to the Police that he had purchased the lights at a flea market. Both Stewart and Jehrrod got released at around 2:45 am on Tuesday, 29th March. A fair number of people were outside waiting for him to give some sort of a statement,
but he and Jehrrod remained silent as they got into a white car driven by a woman, and sped off.
Stewart later stated that he was extremely sorry for such an incident. He said, “Thanks to all that are standing by me. I hope to resolve this incident quickly and show people that I am someone that upholds the law and someone they can respect as a competitor
and as a person.”
It has been confirmed by Stewart that he’ll be competing in the next round of 2011 AMA Supercross season that is scheduled to go down in Arlington this weekend. He is currently fourth in the points race but still has a shot at the title with five more races
to go.
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