Speeding motorcyclist busted by YouTube video and ankle monitor gets 4 years
A speeding suburban Chicago motorcyclist who apparently sought to taunt police by photographing an unsuccessful police chase and posting the video on YouTube in 2012 may have gotten more than he bargained for.
On Friday, 31-year-old Hamza Ali Ben Ali was sentenced to four years by a DuPage County judge, reports the Chicago Tribune.
“There’s no question, Mr. Ali, you put many many people in jeopardy,” said Judge George Bakalis, who could have given Ali as much as six years for aggravated fleeing and eluding police. The defendant was also convicted of driving on a suspended license.
In addition to the YouTube video, which shows Ali not only speeding past vehicles as though they were standing still but driving down the lane dividing line to speed between slower vehicles, an ankle monitor the defendant was wearing at the time of the crime was central to his conviction. It helped prosecutors sync his location to the roads the motorcycle was on and provided his speed of 115 mph.
Ali’s lawyer, Michelle Gonzalez, argued to no avail that the state couldn’t prove her client was the actual driver of the Honda CBR 1000.
The judge characterized the state’s evidence in the case as “overwhelming” and said of the video, “You basically wanted to boast about it.”
His lawyer says Ali plans to appeal. Although an earlier Tribune article reported that Ali was an Algerian citizen facing immigration proceedings, Gonzalez says Ali was born in the U.S.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Speeding motorcyclist busted by YouTube video and ankle monitor”
