Student thrown from car roof in ‘stunt’ at Florida school, video shows. ‘Reckless’
A “stunt” in a Florida high school parking lot ended with a student being thrown from a car roof, according to a video and a police report.
Video shared on TikTok shows a teenager sitting on the roof of a car as it speeds through a parking lot before crashing into another vehicle, which sends the student sliding across the front windshield.
Deputies responded to Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary just before 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, and arrested the 18-year-old driver, according to a report from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
The 18-year-old drove an Infinity G37 through the high school’s main parking lot during dismissal while another student clung to the roof, the report says.
The driver “excessively accelerated his vehicle out of its parking space and into the travel lane at a high rate of speed,” the report says.
The driver then tried to make a right turn but lost control and crashed into a GMC Acadia that was in a parking space, according to the sheriff’s office. A person sitting in the Acadia and preparing to back out hit his head on the driver’s side window when the other car collided, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The blow caused a large swollen contusion to the left side of his forehead,” the report says.
Several students witnessed the crash and recorded it on their cellphones.
A spokesperson for Seminole County Public Schools called the stunt “incredibly reckless and dangerous.”
“It is important for our students to understand that there are consequences for poor choices and bad behavior and students who choose to behave in this manner will be held accountable,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The 18-year-old driver was charged with reckless driving and crimes against a person with culpable negligence to inflict harm, according to the report. His bond was set at $1,000.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said in a statement that he had “zero tolerance” for these types of incidents.
“Not only was this event (reckless), but it was also an incredibly dangerous activity that put multiple lives in immediate danger,” the statement says. “The end of the school year is a time of the year we often see stunts like these increase.”
Lake Mary is about 20 miles north of Orlando. Lake Mary High School serves grades 9-12 and enrolls nearly 2,700 students, according to U.S. News and World Report.
This story was originally published April 21, 2023 at 7:11 AM with the headline "Student thrown from car roof in ‘stunt’ at Florida school, video shows. ‘Reckless’."