Saturday, just after midnight, Officer C. Stuttle pulled over Jalen M. Downs, 23, of Fort Wayne at South Clinton and Wiebke streets, right there at South Side High School, as he sat “running stationary radar” in an unmarked police vehicle. Downs was doing 80 miles an hour in a 35 mph zone, according to the probable cause affidavit Stuttle submitted. Stuttle pointed out Downs’ speed was 45 miles over the speed limit.

Racing your car down Clinton Street at 3 a.m. is never a good idea. Running a red light and plowing into a squad car makes that decision even worse. But that’s what happened in March 2023 when Quayawn Eldridge, now 26, had just left a bar, according to his own story, and “did not want the vehicle he was racing to overtake him.”