A race between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini in Marathon led to the arrest of two tourists on Thursday.
Mengjie Xu, 22, of Flushing, New York and Zhen Yin, 20, of Cambridge, Massachusetts were both charged with unlawful racing and reckless driving.
Around 3:51 p.m., a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy was on patrol when he spotted a yellow Ferrari and a red Lamborghini traveling southbound at a high rate of speed near the intersection of 65th Street and State Road 5. The initial radar reading showed the vehicles to be traveling 68 mph in a 45 mph zone.
The deputy began a pursuit of the vehicles, and his radar showed the two cars reaching speeds of up to 106 mph while he attempted to catch them. The suspects then ran a red traffic light at the intersection of 55th street, and began to weave in between lanes of traffic. The cars were traveling at such a high rate of speed that the deputy was unable to catch up to them, leading him to request help from deputies south of their location.
More deputies and a Florida Highway Patrol trooper stopped the vehicles near 33rd street. It was later determined that the two exotic cars were rentals, and both were towed from the scene.
Yin and Xu were arrested and transported to the Monroe County Detention Center. Both were released the following day after posting $50,000 bonds.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
If you have information that could help solve a crime in the Florida Keys, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-346-TIPS (8477). Callers can remain anonymous and, if a tip leads to an arrest in the case, will be eligible for a cash reward.