Crime & Safety

Watch: Biker's Flight From Deputies Recorded On Helmet Cam

The footage was taken from the motorcyclist's own helmet cam worn before his arrest earlier this month by Sarasota deputies.

SARASOTA, FL — An accused serial speeder with a reported passion for weaving in and out of traffic while clocking triple digits on his speedometer personally added video evidence to the case Sarasota County deputies have built against him.

The sheriff’s office on Thursday released video footage shot by the man’s own GoPro helmet cam that he was recording on just prior to his April 7 arrest. That footage shows the Sergy Baygulov’s motorcycle barreling down River Road and Interstate 75 in Sarasota County, doing speeds of more than 110 mph. The 20-year-old North Port man is also seen on the video “weaving in and out of traffic and coming within a few inches of other vehicles including a school bus,” the sheriff’s office pointed out in an email accompanying the video’s release.

The footage also shows Baygulov speeding past a marked law enforcement cruiser around 6:30 a.m. April 7. Deputies finally caught up with Baygulov at his place of employment a short time after he passed the cruiser. He was subsequently charged with aggravated fleeing to elude, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, attaching a tag that was not assigned to his vehicle and several traffic violations.

“Deputies are confident that at the speed he was traveling, Baygulov is lucky to be alive,” the email noted.

The sheriff’s office earlier this month released its own video shot by aviation deputies during the April 7 incident. The agency says it was made aware of a motorcyclist with a need for speed traveling each morning from North Port to Sarasota’s Fruitville Road back in March.

“Reports were made by drivers on River Road in south Sarasota County,” the agency explained. “According to witnesses, every morning at the same time, the driver would illegally pass and weave in and out of traffic at deadly speeds on the two-lane road.”

There have been 84 reported traffic crashes involving motorcycles in Sarasota County since Jan. 1, the sheriff’s office said. That agency has investigated 14 crashes personally, while the breakdown of investigations for other agencies is as follows:

  • Sarasota Police Department – 21
  • Florida Highway Patrol – 37
  • North Port Police Department – 6
  • Venice Police Department – 6

“This is a frightening trend,” Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight said in a statement. “If these motorcycle crashes aren’t waking people up, I don’t know what will. The impact of a bike traveling at these speeds is deadly for the motorist and anyone or anything they come into contact with. As for the thrill seekers, they should know this behavior is not tolerated in Sarasota County.”

The investigation into Baygulov continues, but deputies say he is not facing any additional criminal charges. Baygulov was booked into the Sarasota County Jail following his April 7 arrest. He was later released in lieu of $7,740 bond.

There were 4,584 motorcycle-related fatalities in the United States in 2014, according to a report issued by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Booking photo and videos courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office


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