- April 18, 2024
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Pulled over by a state trooper who clocked his red convertible Ferrari speeding down Interstate 95 at 92 mph in a 70-mph zone, Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins told the trooper, "I run the county."
"I received a speeding ticket, paid my fine and completed traffic school. I never asked for any favors. I regret how I spoke to the officer. I fully support and love law enforcement and look forward to winning my upcoming election and servicing Flagler County for four more years."
— JOE MULLINS
It was the second time in just over two weeks that Mullins, 51, mentioned his status as an elected official to state troopers who stopped him for driving about 20 mph over the limit. Stories about the traffic stops, with accompanying Florida Highway Patrol dash camera footage, were first posted by FlaglerLive.com.
Asked for comment, Mullins on July 17 emailed the following statement:
"I received a speeding ticket, paid my fine and completed traffic school. I never asked for any favors. I regret how I spoke to the officer. I fully support and love law enforcement and look forward to winning my upcoming election and servicing Flagler County for four more years."
The June 19 incident occurred at about 8:45 a.m. near mile marker 287 in Flagler County.
The trooper who pulled Mullins over that day told him that he'd usually give a warning.
"Normally, I give warnings, I give breaks," the trooper said, "but it looks like you've been written a warning already."
The trooper was telling Mullins that the ticket would be payable within 30 days and that there are three ways to pay when Mullins interrupted him, saying, "I run the county, so I know how it works."
"You run the county?" the trooper replied.
"Yeah, I'm the chairman of the County Commission," Mullins said.
The trooper then continued explaining how Mullins could pay the ticket, saying, "I just have to explain your options. I don't want any miscommunication."
The previous stop had occurred at 7:47 p.m. June 2 on Interstate 4 in Seminole County, where two Highway Patrol vehicles stopped Mullins' Mercedes SUV.
When Mullins pulled over, he handed one trooper his County Commission business card.
Video from the traffic stop recorded the two troopers speaking to each other as they walked back to their vehicles to run Mullins' information.
"He said he's a county commissioner," one said.
"Yeah, well, he's getting a ticket," the second trooper said.
"He wasn't stopping when he saw me," the first replied.
Part of the second trooper's next comment was inaudible because of traffic noise. He continued, "I figured he might be one of those people who stops and then floors it to take off. ... What county?'
"Flagler, I think it was."
"Whatever — doesn't matter."
"Thing was, there's two vehicles on him, he didn't even stop."
"No — he didn't even slow down. Again, that's why I came after you as well. And you could hear the, you could hear his exhaust ticking. His car was like really hot from going really fast."
"Yeah, that was the surprise of my life."
Mullins' traffic citation states that he was driving 89 mph. The speed limit was 60.
The troopers walked back up to Mullins' car, and Mullins began speaking, most of his words drowned out by traffic noise in the dash camera video.
At one point, a trooper said, "Are you ready to leave, sir? Are you ready to leave?"
Mullins kept talking.
The trooper told him that if he didn't leave, he'd be getting another ticket.
"If you get out of this car, you're going to jail," the trooper told him. "... Stay in the car. Stay calm. ... You're aware this is all being audio and video recorded, right?"
"The way you drove is, also," Mullins said.
"Absolutely," the trooper said.
"And I'm telling you, as an elected official ... I'm over the state, I'm telling you," Mullins said.
"You're over the state?" the trooper replied.
"You can record that all you want. That was very dangerous, what you did," Mullins said, speaking of the way one of the troopers had pulled beside him on the shoulder of the road before backing up behind hm.
"Alright, are you ready to leave?" one of the troopers said.
Mullins pulled away.
In addition to the stops in Flagler County and Seminole County this year, Mullins has also been cited for speeding in Seminole County (in 2021, for driving 85 mph in a 65-mph zone), in Duval County (2018, 64 mph in a 55-mph zone), St. Johns County (2016, 65 in a 55-mph zone) and Nassau County (2015, 79 mph in a 70-mph zone).
After the stops in Flagler County and Seminole County this year, Mullins wrote letters to the judge in each case asking that points not be assessed on his license.
"I lost track of time and while taking calls and dealing with traffic knowing I was behind schedule, I was not paying attention to my speed nor the limit," he wrote to the judge in the Flagler case.
He wrote a similar letter in the June 2 Seminole County case. In both letters, he wrote: "I am asking for lenience as I am gladly to pay in full the amount owed but would like the assessed points and my record not to be noted if possible. "
After the 2016 stop in St. Johns County, which occurred before he became a commissioner, Mullins did not pay the fine on time, and sought Flagler County Clerk of Court Tom Bexley's assistance to avoid a license suspension. Bexley forwarded the St. Johns County Clerk of Court's Office a letter by Mullins in which Mullins asked that the court withhold adjudication and not assess points on his license. According to reporting by FlaglerLive, Mullins had also asked for Sheriff Rick Staly's intervention after receiving the 2016 ticket, but was rebuffed.
The footage and reports of Mullins' June 2022 traffic stops are seeing wide circulation — appearing in publications as far away as the U.K.-based Daily Mail, as well as national and local U.S. papers — less than two months from the Aug. 23 primary elections. Mullins is being challenged in the District 4 County Commission Republican primary by Leann Pennington. The winner of the primary will face NPA candidate Jane Gentile-Youd in the general election.
On July 9, Mullins posted photos to his campaign Facebook page, showing his campaign signs in Palm Coast yards.
"A great day knocking on doors and dropping yard signs in the F-section!" the text of the post said.
As of the morning of July 17, there were 420 comments on that post.
Almost all were from people denouncing or mocking Mullins' behavior during his recent traffic stops.
Disclosure: Joe Mullins advertises with the Palm Coast Observer.
