A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper watched a Ford Mustang convertible drag race a motorcycle along State Route 61 near Mariner Point Drive in Clinton on Wednesday, and when the trooper pulled the car over, there was a child sitting in the front passenger seat. The driver, 53-year-old Cynthia Kitts, now faces a felony drag racing charge and a misdemeanor child endangerment charge.
According to an affidavit described by WVLT, Kitts was behind the wheel of the Mustang when the trooper spotted the race and stopped her vehicle. Kitts reportedly admitted to drag racing the motorcycle, per the affidavit. The affidavit was obtained by WVLT News, and the station reported that no further details about the incident, including the identity of the motorcycle rider, have been released.
No Further Details Released
The report notes that authorities have not disclosed additional information beyond what is in the affidavit, including the circumstances leading up to the alleged race or the condition of the child in the front seat. Those gaps leave much of the incident unresolved for now, per the same account.
This is not the only East Tennessee drag racing case to draw attention this year. In August, WVLT reported that five people faced charges after allegedly forming a rolling roadblock to drag race on an East Tennessee interstate, according to the station's report. And the stakes of such races can turn deadly: in a separate 2023 case out of Knoxville, Trinity Clark was convicted of vehicular homicide tied to a fatal drag-racing crash and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, as detailed in another WVLT account.
Children Have Turned Up In Other Racing Cases
Kitts's case is also not the only recent instance in Tennessee where children were reportedly present during an alleged street race. In February, Metro Nashville police said a street-racing takeover involving roughly 40 vehicles in the 3700 block of Nolensville Pike included a white SUV carrying juvenile passengers ages 3, 8, 15 and 17, according to WSMV.
No court date or case disposition for Kitts has been reported, and WVLT's original story does not say whether she has entered a plea. The investigation into Wednesday's incident on State Route 61 remains open, and no additional updates have been released beyond the initial charges.
