Sheriff: Motorcycle video shows "frightening trend"

SARASOTA (FOX 13) - It's like footage from a movie or video game: The first-person view from a motorcyclist weaving in and out of traffic at speeds well over 100 miles an hour.  But the footage is real -- taken from a motorcyclist's helmet-cam after his arrest -- and deputies say these dangerous acts are happening too often.

Sergey Baygulov was arrested on a charge of aggravated fleeing earlier this month.  Sarasota deputies say he sped past a marked law enforcement vehicle before fleeing to his job, where he was later arrested.

As part of their investigation, detectives confiscated his helmet-mounted camera, which they say contains lengthy video showing him cruising along River Road and Interstate 75 in southern Sarasota County, exceeding speeds of 110 mph while darting in and out of traffic and coming inches from other vehicles, including a school bus.

"Deputies are confident that at the speed he was traveling, Baygulov is lucky to be alive," a sheriff's office statement about the video concluded.

Sheriff Tom Knight took the opportunity to point out that there have been 84 traffic crashes involving motorcycles in Sarasota County since the beginning of the year.

"This is a frightening trend," he offered. "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 video also comes one week after another motorcyclist's helmet-cam recorded a road-rage altercation along the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa.  That run-in, which involved several motorcyclists and a motorist, led to punches being thrown and ended when the motorist's passenger pulled out a gun.