Cops: Street racing lands Athens mom, daughter in jail
An Athens County mother and daughter took rivalry to new heights over the weekend, allegedly racing each other at speeds that reached 80 mph within the Athens city limits.
Athens-Clarke County police records show Gladys Renette Wooten, 43, of Athens and her daughter, Lenichia Wooten, 25, of Winterville, posted bond early Sunday after being arrested Saturday on racing and speeding and other charges.
“She always thinks she can beat me,” Officer V. Schill reported the mother told him after she was stopped, referring to her daughter, who left Gladys Wooten at the scene. “I’m a better driver…She tried to pass me but I wouldn’t let her.”
In his police report, Schill said the mother and daughter were traveling on Lexington Road on Saturday side by side at a high rate of speed in a 45 mph zone just before 7 p.m.
The officer said he clocked Gladys Wooten, who was driving a Saturn SL1, overtaking her daughter at 80 mph. Lenichia Wooten, driving a Toyota Corolla, was clocked at 70 mph.
Schill said he pulled the mother over and the daughter slowed but then left the scene, which was just southwest of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport.
“She always thinks she can beat me,” the officer said the mother told him about her daughter. “I’m a better driver…She tried to pass me but I wouldn’t let her.”
Gladys Wooten identified herself as a taxi driver and said they were on their way to her employer, United Taxi.
After the mother was placed in the police car, the officer said Lenichia Wooten returned to the scene as a passenger in the Corolla. The daughter denied she was racing but was also placed under arrest.
In addition to speeding and racing charges, Lenichia Wooten was charged with driving without a valid license. Gladys Wooten was also charged with possession of a Schedule 2 drug, Hydrocodone.
The mother was released on bonds totaling $3,000 and the daughter on bonds totaling $3,500.
