Two more Olympic sprinters were cited by officers in conjunction with Sha’Carri Richardson’s arrest for driving in excess of 100 mph on Thursday in Florida’s Orange County, according to a report by The Athletic.
Christian Coleman, the world record-holder in the indoor 60 meters, arrived at Richardson’s traffic stop in another car and tried to intervene on his girlfriend’s behalf. When Coleman refused to accept the officer’s orders to return to his car, he was eventually arrested.
He was charged with resisting an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia when officers allegedly found a glass pipe with a “small amount of green leafy plant material” in the center console of Coleman’s vehicle, per The Athletic. Coleman, 29, was also cited for stopping on a limited-access highway and for having an expired registration over six months.
Twanisha Terry, who joined Richardson on the United States’ gold-medal 400-meter relay at the 2024 Olympic Games, later pulled up in a third car and tried to talk to Richardson. Terry, 27, also declined to retreat when officers told her to return to her car. She eventually complied with an officer’s request to show identification and was given a citation for stopping on a limited highway and released.
Richardson, 25, was charged with “Dangerous Excessive Speeding” in her Aston Martin. Officers videotaped her changing lanes and tailgating other drivers while driving more than 90 mph on a state road in Florida. Richardson eventually was clocked at 104 mph.
Orange County courts set a $1,000 bond for Coleman and a $500 bond for Richardson. Both were released on bail and are expected to appear in court on Feb. 26 and Feb. 25, respectively.
The arrest was Richardson’s second in less than a year. In July, she was arrested after officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reviewed security video that showed her appearing to grab Coleman’s backpack and shove him toward a wall while he was attempting to move through the terminal.
She was held in custody for 19 hours, but Coleman refused to press charges, later telling The Athletic in a video interview, “She’s a human being, and a great person. She has a lot of things going on, a lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can. She’s one of one. And I’m one of one too. I feel like it was just a sucky situation all around, I don’t feel as if she should have been arrested.”
In August, Richardson issued an apology to Coleman that read in part, “I apologize to Christian. He came into my life and gave me more than a relationship but a greater understanding of unconditional love from what I’ve experienced in my past. Due to my past trauma and pain, I was blind and blocked off to not only receive it but give it. I love him and to him I can’t apologize enough.”
–Field Level Media
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