MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - A man driving with illegal blue flashing lights picked the wrong person to race with along I-40 Monday night.
Around 9 p.m. on March 19, a Memphis officer in an unmarked police car was patrolling I-40 near the Watkins exit when a white car with flashing blue lights on the front grille, similar to those used by law enforcement, sped up behind him as if he was pulling the officer over. As the officer started pulling over, the white car sped past him, nearly colliding with his car.
The officer heard loud music coming from the car as it passed and began following the car to obtain a license plate number, pacing the vehicle at over 100 mph in a 65 mph zone. The driver of the white car then revved his car to exceed 110 mph in an attempt to race the officer.
The undercover officer then turned on his lights and pulled over the white 2010 Chevy Camaro Super Sport. The driver was identified as 45-year-old Efrin Dewayne Harris. Once the officer began explaining how fast Harris had been going, Harris hesitated for a minute, then clenched his t-shirt saying, "My chest, my chest."
The officer suspected that the chest pains were a ruse, and performed a background check on Harris' driver's license while he was treated by ambulance personnel. The officer found that Harris was on probation until November 2012 for Aggravated Statutory Rape, and that Harris never acquired a driver's license that identified him as a sex offender as required by law.
Efrin Harris was arrested and charged with drag racing, illegal use of blue flashing lights, and violations of sex offender registry laws. Harris has since been released from the Shelby County Jail on $7,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 28.
