Jordan Robinson, a 22-year-old from Coral Springs, was released on bond on Aug. 24 after a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest on drug charges. The next day, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report, he refused a trooper’s order to stop a yellow Corvette on the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade County. WPLG Local 10 reported on Nov. 9 that Robinson now faces seven charges across two counties, all still pending.
Dashcam video from the troopers shows the pursuit at night, a yellow Corvette ahead on a lit highway as the patrol car follows.
Watch the dashcam video from WPLG Local 10 on Instagram
Video: WPLG Local 10 via Instagram, showing Florida Highway Patrol dashcam footage.
What the FHP arrest report says
The report puts the stop order near Northwest 41st Street on Aug. 25, with Robinson northbound. Local10 quoted the trooper’s account: “I accelerated my patrol vehicle to approximately 140 mph … the Corvette continued to aggressively accelerate … traveling at extremely high rates of speed.” The video’s caption says troopers put the Corvette at more than 140 mph.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies in the aviation unit joined troopers as Robinson exited the Turnpike at Atlantic Boulevard. The report says BSO deputies “coordinated the final stop” at Pioneer Park, 217 NE Fifth Ave. in Deerfield Beach, where Robinson was arrested. Troopers wrote that they found a baggie with powdery residue in the Corvette, along with a second baggie holding two yellow pills and one blue pill. Local10’s account doesn’t include lab results, and no one has been convicted of anything.
Seven charges across two counties
Court records Local10 reviewed show two pending cases. In Miami-Dade, from the Aug. 25 FHP case, Robinson faces fleeing and eluding police and possession of a controlled substance, with Circuit Judge Richard Hersch presiding. In Broward, from the Aug. 20 BSO arrest that prosecutors filed on Aug. 21, he faces five charges: possession of a controlled substance, possession of psilocybin, possession of oxycodone, possession of marijuana, and violation of an injunction protection. Circuit Judge Michael Davis presides over that case. The video’s caption on Instagram also lists reckless driving and speeding, which don’t appear in the court-records summary in Local10’s article. Robinson’s defense position isn’t in the reporting I found.
Fleeing and eluding: five years or 15
Florida’s fleeing and eluding statute, section 316.1935, has tiers. Refusing to stop for an officer’s order is a third-degree felony. If the driver flees an officer in a marked patrol car with lights and siren on and drives at high speed or with wanton disregard for people or property, it becomes a second-degree felony. Under section 775.082, that is the difference between a maximum of five years in prison and a maximum of 15. Local10 lists the Miami-Dade charge only as fleeing and eluding police, so the degree is unconfirmed.
A conviction under any of the first four subsections also carries a driver license revocation the court has no discretion to skip. The statute says the court “shall revoke” the license for not less than one year and not more than five. That penalty is separate from any prison term or fine.
A bond released the day before
Local10 reports that corrections released Robinson on Aug. 24, a day before the chase, in the case from his Aug. 20 arrest. Florida’s section 903.0471 lets a court, on its own motion, revoke pretrial release and order pretrial detention if it finds probable cause to believe the defendant committed a new crime while on release. That finding doesn’t wait for a conviction in the new case, or for the new case to reach the first judge at all. Local10’s account doesn’t say whether Judge Davis or prosecutors have taken up the question, so whether the Broward bond was revoked is unconfirmed, and entries after Monday evening aren’t covered here.
Bond conditions and fast cars have crossed paths before. Backfire News covered an Iowa case in which an 18-year-old allegedly ran the Corvette of the relative who bailed him out to 140 mph, and a 130-mph Corvette chase on I-275 where Florida law asks whether the state keeps the car.The court dates in either case weren’t included in Local10’s report.
Should a judge be able to jail someone awaiting trial on a probable-cause finding alone, or should the state have to win a conviction on the new charge first?
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