St. Petersburg man drove 136 mph on Howard Frankland, troopers say

TAMPA — A 19-year-old St. Petersburg man drove 136 mph at one point while racing across the Howard Frankland Bridge early Saturday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Troopers arrested Eric Killins on charges of marijuana possession, unlawful racing and reckless driving.

Killins was taken into custody just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hillsborough County end of the Howard Frankland Bridge, an arrest report said. He was driving a gray 2015 Infinity G37.

Killins admitted to racing another vehicle that was farther ahead, a blue Dodge Charger Hellcat, the report said. He was driving east on the interstate and went through a construction zone on the bridge before accelerating to speeds up to 136 mph.

The posted speed limit for the bridge is 65 mph from start to finish.

Troopers estimated Killins passed about 50 cars on the bridge, one by veering onto the shoulder. He often was less than one car length from vehicles in front of him as he swerved in and out of moderate to heavy traffic, the report said.

Four people were inside the car Killins was driving, according to a second arrest report involving a juvenile passenger. Video recorded by a trooper’s dashboard camera shows the trooper yelling at one point for everyone to get out of the car and get down on the ground. He orders them not to move.

“Yes sir,” the group can be heard answering in unison.

Gun drawn, the trooper asks Killins, “What are you doing man ... you are going to kill yourself and everyone here with you, all your friends. You were going 140 mph man, if you crash going over the wall at that speed, you’re all dead.”

Killins was released from the Hillsborough County Jail just before 11 a.m. Saturday after posting a bail of $1,250, according to jail records.