Two drivers picked the wrong spot on Interstate 295 to test their cars’ top speed — directly in front of an unmarked Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office vehicle.
The incident unfolded on the night of Friday, Aug. 14, on the Buckman Bridge, a roughly 3-mile stretch of I-295 connecting Jacksonville’s Mandarin area to Orange Park. Officer Ernesto Valerio, a 22-year JSO veteran assigned to the Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit, was driving an unmarked SUV when he noticed a red Chevrolet Corvette and a gray Dodge Challenger riding side by side, slowing down traffic behind them.
Bodycam footage released by JSO on social media this week captures Valerio’s reaction in real time. “Look at these guys blocking everything,” he can be heard saying, just before the Corvette driver sticks an arm out the window and gives a hand signal to start the race.
Seconds later, both cars take off. “Oh, and they’re racing now — right in front of me,” Valerio says, before flipping on his emergency lights and giving chase. According to the sheriff’s office, the cars hit approximately 120 mph — more than double the posted 55-mph construction-zone limit currently in place on the bridge while crews carry out a $5.4 million repair project on it.
The Corvette reportedly pulled ahead early, leaving the Challenger behind. Valerio caught up to the Challenger and pulled it over. Video shows him ordering the driver out and placing him in handcuffs on the shoulder of the bridge. “You’re under arrest for racing and super speeding,” Valerio tells him in the footage.
The driver was identified as 22-year-old Quashay Frazier Jr., who now faces a felony charge along with several misdemeanors, including racing and super speeding. JSO has not released the identity of the Corvette driver or said whether that vehicle was located after the race.
The arrest was one of eight made over that Friday and Saturday as part of Operation Double Down, a weekend enforcement push targeting street racers and extreme speeders across Jacksonville. In its post sharing the footage, JSO didn’t mince words about the behavior: “Street racing is down right stupid.”
The sheriff’s office said more updates on the initiative are expected as the crackdown continues.
