British Columbia 186 MPH Biker in Viral Video Turns Himself In
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(KELOWNA, British Columbia) — The motorcyclist who shot a viral video of himself speeding down a Canadian highway at more than 186 miles per hour appeared in court Wednesday after he turned himself in to police.
Randy Scott, 25, was set to be released from jail once he pays $500 bail and a $2,000 surety, though a Victoria judge ordered him not to drive any motorized vehicle — including scooters and all-terrain vehicles as a condition of his release, criminal justice branch spokesman Neil MacKenzie said.
Scott is charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle for allegedly weaving through traffic at nearly four times the speed limit on the Trans-Canada Highway near the town of Saanich on Vancouver Island in April. In the video, which Scott posted to YouTube on April 8, the speedometer on his motorcycle tops out at 299 kilometers per hour (186 mph), but his engine can still be heard accelerating at that speed, suggesting that his maximum speed was far higher.
The video has been seen nearly 1.2 million times.
While the video accumulated viewers the continent over, authorities in British Columbia were for weeks unable to track down the daredevil biker. But the video ultimately proved to be Scott’s undoing — tips from viewers drew the attention of law enforcement to Scott, who was charged July 10.
“I can’t stress it strongly enough — we 100 percent could not have achieved the information to pursue charges without tips from the public,” said Saanich Police Sgt. Dean Jantzen. “We were completely blown away at the response we got.”
Within days of the video’s publication, Saanich police seized the motorcycle, a blue Yamaha R1 sports bike, from a public garage and issued its owner, Scott’s mother, nearly $1,500 in traffic fines. That helped narrow the investigation, Jantzen said, but tips from viewers of the video were necessary to persuade British Columbia prosecutors to approve charges.
In the weeks that followed, investigators visited Scott’s family and friends near his Victoria, B.C., home and elsewhere in Canada, working with law enforcement agencies as far as Edmonton, where Scott had previously lived.
“We upped the pressure on him,” Jantzen said. “There were lots of phone calls and door knocks. It appears to have had the right results.”
On Tuesday evening, Scott surrendered, turning himself in to Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Kelowna, B.C., about 300 miles from Saanich.
After Scott identified himself and said there was a warrant for his arrest, an officer was called to place him under arrest, RMCP Constable Kris Clark, adding, “It was pretty uneventful.”
Jantzen said Scott’s adventure was particularly dangerous because it took place at 4 p.m. — the beginning of rush hour — in a portion of the highway that serves as the main corridor between Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, and its suburbs.
“You can’t watch that video without your blood pressure spiking,” Jantzen said. “It’s very intense, a very dramatic bit of driving.”
Scott, who faces a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine, is due back in court for a hearing Aug. 16, MacKenzie said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio