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When a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy clocked a maroon Mitsubishi blazing past his stakeout a few miles north of Key West this weekend, the car was doing 87 mph in a 55 zone. The cop gave pursuit and then watched in astonishment as the Mitsubishi roared up to 127 mph on Overseas Highway.
Officers were even more shocked when they finally stopped the car on Stock Island and found three small children inside. The driver, Robert Rioseco, was drunk, police say.
Rioseco was clocked Saturday night at Mile Marker 7 going more than 20 mph over the speed limit. Before Sgt. Geni Hernandez finally stopped the car at Mile Marker 5.5, it had rocketed another 40 miles over the limit, writes Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
Noting the kids in the car, Hernandez asked Rioseco to step out and smelled alcohol on his breath.
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“His behavior was extremely erratic,” Herrin writes. “He was sometimes calm and other times agitated, at one point acting as if he were going to attack and strike Sgt. Hernandez.”
Rioseco was taken to jail, where he staggered, cursed loudly at police, and refused to take sobriety tests.
The 46-year-old electrician from Homestead was charged with three counts of DUI with a child in the car, three counts of child endangerment, reckless driving, and refusing to submit to a DUI test.
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