A speeding driver was apprehended after attempting to hide in a bathroom at a motel in Wildwood.
Yazmeen Meecohl McGriff, 28, of Leesburg, was driving a blue Hyundai traveling 74 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone at 11:50 a.m. Tuesday on State Road 44 at County Road 243, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy began pursuing the vehicle as it continued to accelerate.
The Hyundai made a sudden right turn into the International House of Pancakes. McGriff was captured on video surveillance as she got out of the vehicle and went into a room at the nearby Motel 6.
When the deputy went to the room, other occupants indicated that McGriff was hiding in the bathroom. They also indicated McGriff did not have permission to enter their room.
McGriff was taken into custody and admitted she fled because she has been classified as a habitual traffic offender and cannot legally drive. She said she did not want to go to jail.
A check of the vehicle she was driving revealed it was not registered. McGriff claimed she “was in the process of buying the vehicle and did not know the vehicle was not registered.”
She was arrested on a felony charge of driving while license suspended as well as charges of resisting arrest and driving an unregistered vehicle. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $17,000 bond.
