Florida State football has dismissed its top 2026 recruit, Chuck Kennon, after a 150-mph high-speed chase with police and a felony arrest.
The school dismissed Kennon, adding that his conduct proved detrimental to the football team. Per UPI, the release comes after the 18-year-old was arrested on Monday on charges related to “aggravated fleeing to elude, a second-degree felony; false imprisonment, a third-degree felony; and resisting officer without violence, a misdemeanor.”
Florida Highway Patrol state trooper Erik Cutino said in a criminal report affidavit that he was performing stationary laser speed enforcement with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at about 2 a.m. EDT Saturday. A deputy from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office acquired a Dodge Durango going 79 mph in a 50 mph zone.
The officers then began to overtake the vehicle before it ran a red light, collided with a raised curb, and reached speeds of more than 150 mph during a chase. Officers briefly lost visual of the Durango. It was later seen stopped, with a flat tire. A trooper approached the vehicle and observed Kennon exiting and fleeing on foot. The trooper lost visual of Kennon when he ran into an industrial plant.
As deputies searched the area, they found a woman with lacerations on her arm. She was also wearing a bodysuit “covered in dirt stains, blood and grass.” She told police that she had been in the SUV with Kennon when he began driving recklessly and asked him to stop the car at least 10 times.
Michael Shapley, of Jansen & Davis P.A. and Ralph Vickers of Suncoast Lawyer, PLLC — filed a plea of not guilty on behalf of Kennon.
“We urge the public to keep in mind that Mr. Kennon has not been convicted of any crime at this time, and that the legal process is ongoing,” Shapley said.