Monday, March 28, 2011

Motocross champ James Stewart charged with impersonating an officer

James Stewart
Motocross champ James "Bubba" Stewart was arrested Monday on a charge of impersonating a police officer. (March 27, 2011)

A Central Florida motocross champion whose website calls him "the Tiger Woods of supercross" was arrested Monday on a charge of impersonating a police officer, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

James "Bubba" Stewart Jr., 25, was driving a 2008 Toyota Tundra pickup northbound on State Road 417 at 4:50 p.m. when he tried to stop another vehicle using red and blue police-type lights, troopers said.

Unfortunately for Stewart, the vehicle contained two off-duty highway-patrol troopers, who suspected that the pickup was not an undercover police truck.

As Stewart pulled alongside the vehicle, the driver identified himself as a law officer. That's when Stewart, who had a passenger in the pickup, sped off, the highway patrol said.



Pictures from Megacon 2011

The troopers called 911, and an Orange County deputy sheriff and an Orlando police officer stopped Stewart at Orlando International Airport.

Troopers arrived and arrested Stewart. His passenger, Thames Jehrrod Quinault, 44, of California, was arrested on a charge of tampering with evidence. Investigators say he hid the red and blue lights in his luggage.

Supercross.com says Stewart is known to his fans as "the fastest man on the planet." Supercross races are run on manmade tracks, mostly in major stadiums. The races include large jumps and obstacles.

Stewart is the star of a reality-TV show on Fuel TV — a sports-and-entertainment channel — called "Bubba's World."

Property records show that Stewart lives in a six-bedroom, 7 1/2-bathroom house worth $3 million in the Bay Hill community, near Isleworth.

According to his website, Stewart began riding a dirt bike when he was 3 years old and entered his first race the following year. He practiced on 40 acres that his father bought in 1997 in Haines City, which is his hometown, according to the website.

Teen People named Stewart one of "20 teens who will change the world" in 2003, and he has been featured in publications including Rolling Stone, Maxim and GQ, according to the website.

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