Flashback To When Mr. Beast Got Busted

NOVEMBER 14--Since several readers recently requested it, here is the police report chronicling the arrest of Mr. Beast (government name: James Stephen Donaldson) for driving his BMW i8 122 mph during a highway race in North Carolina.

Donaldson, who was 19 at the time and in the early days of his Beasthood, was collared in January 2018 after a cop spotted a pair of vehicles speeding on U.S. Route 64 in Tarboro, a town about 30 miles from Donaldson’s Winterville home.

According to an arrest report, a police radar device recorded the autos traveling at 122 mph when they passed a patrol vehicle parked in the road’s median around 2:30 AM.

After the cop flashed his party lights, the cars pulled over at a nearby exit ramp, where the officer questioned Donaldson and Luis Guerrero Rijo, 22, the driver of a 2004 Mazda.

Donaldson quickly pointed the finger at his fellow racer, claiming that Guerrero Rijo, cops reported, “attempted to entice him to race by revving engine while traveling on US 64. Donaldson advised he then decided to race the subject.”

Both drivers were subsequently cuffed and stuffed into separate patrol cars. A passenger in Guerrero Rijo’s car was busted on several changes, including carrying a concealed 9mm handgun and possession of an open container of beer.

While in custody, Donaldson appeared before a magistrate judge who set bond at $100,000. Donaldson was then booked into the Edgecombe County jail on speeding, driving careless and reckless, and speed competition counts. Donaldson’s 2015 silver BMW was removed from the makeshift race course by a local tow firm.

Donaldson, pictured in the above mugshot, subsequently pleaded guilty to the reckless driving charge and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $75. However, execution of the custodial sentence was suspended by a judge who placed Donaldson on 12 months of unsupervised probation, according to District Court records. (2 pages)