Two Ormond Beach, FL police officers were cleared Friday of sparing NASCAR driver Tony Stewart a speeding ticket in exchange for a picture with him, even though Stewart bragged on a radio show about avoiding a citation. A police car videotape shows one officer taking a picture of the other officer with Stewart after the race car driver was pulled over in a yellow Ferrari, but Chief Larry Mathieson said the officers didn’t break any rules and didn’t have enough hard evidence to give Stewart a ticket anyway. “We think they got caught up in the moment,” Mathieson said. “They’re good cops and they’re honest guys. I don’t think we need to overreact to something that was a momentary lapse in judgment.” The allegations of special treatment for the NASCAR bad boy started flying after patrol officers Anthony Zimmerer, 26, and Michael Bakaysa, 33, pulled Stewart over just before 1 a.m. on Feb. 9. Zimmerer, who has been with the department less than three years, was at the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and Granada Boulevard when he saw the yellow car zip eastward toward the Granada Bridge. Zimmerer radioed in that he thought the vehicle was going about 72 mph in the 35 mph zone. But Zimmerer never got a digital reading that decisively showed Stewart’s speed. The police car videotape showed Bakaysa taking a picture of a grinning Zimmerer with Stewart after Zimmerer ran Stewart’s license. Zimmerer still has the autographed Polaroid photograph, which will be donated for an upcoming fund-raiser, Mathieson said. A few days after the stop, Stewart was former NASCAR racer Benny Parson’s guest on a live WNDB-AM radio show broadcast from Volusia Square Mall. During that show, Stewart told Parsons he was driving 72 mph in a 35 mph zone and claimed the officer said: “If I let you off, can I take a picture with you?” Stewart claimed he responded, “Shoot yeah! You can burn the whole roll of Polaroids off for all I care. Just let me go home.” During an internal investigation, the 31-year-old racing phenom told police supervisors that Zimmerer had already given him a verbal warning and he was free to go when the officers asked about a picture. Investigators said Stewart conceded he “did in fact stretch the truth” during the radio show “because it made for a better story.” Zimmerer and Bakaysa were never taken off duty or disciplined. They have, however, been ordered to take part in a four-hour seminar on ethics and professionalism at Daytona Beach Community College in July.( Daytona Beach News Journal )(3-1-2003)
