Man accused of street racing, doughnuts in church parking lot outside Englewood

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. —

Tire marks in a parking lot outside of Englewood reveal the suspected reckless nature of a joyride that ended with the arrest of 28-year-old Landon Morris on Saturday night for racing.

"They went round and round and round. And at one point, the blue smoke was so dense you couldn't see the black car," said a witness, Mark Larkin.

The incident involved a gray Corvette. The loud revving of the engine caught the attention of a Charlotte County deputy, who observed the driver racing south on Winchester Boulevard by South McCall Road.

"It sounded like a car that was completely hot, rotted out, no mufflers, very, very loud," said Scott Logue, another resident.

Investigators stated that the car sped through several neighborhoods before it's accused of performing doughnuts in the parking lot of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

"Here comes the sheriff, you know, and the smoke is still coming off the pavement," Larkin said.

Deputies arrested Morris for racing. The passenger reportedly apologized at the scene, telling deputies she had asked him to perform the doughnuts, according to the report. Morris had driven from Orlando for a first date with the passenger from Rotonda West, but the date was interrupted by the drive.

Larkin and Logue, as well as other neighbors who live and walk nearby, say incidents like this make them concerned about safety on neighborhood roads.

"Back off. We have families, we have children living in the area," Larkin said.

"Definitely scary. Very, very concerning. So we just have to be vigilant, you know? So whenever we walk, we're always aware of our surroundings or at least try to be anyway the best we can," Logue added.

With a new four-way stop added just down Oceanspray Boulevard after a deadly crash in July 2025, neighbors expressed hope that drivers will slow down and respect the roads.

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