Cardinal top draft pick busted for speeding

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Zaven Collins was arrested in Scottsdale last week for alleged excessive speeding and reckless driving.

According to Scottsdale Police Department, Collins was stopped on Chaparral Road just east of Scottsdale Road at around 10 a.m. on June 20 after an officer saw him going 76 mph in a 35-mph zone.

Collins was placed under arrest and released later that day. 

Under Arizona law, a reckless driving charge is a class 2 misdemeanor and carries a maximum four months in jail and $750 for first-time offenders. Excessive speeding is a class 3 misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Collins, who was picked by the Cardinals in the first round of the NFL Draft in May, signed a four-year, $14.7-million contract with the team in June.

The team did not respond to a request for comment on his arrest.

After news of Collins’ arrest spread across social media, some Scottsdale locals commented that the area where he was stopped is the site of a well-known speed trap.

“Like Lincoln Drive, you don’t want to speed on Chaparral,” lifelong resident Kathy Wiebke wrote on Twitter. “Those of us who have lived here for any length of time know these are speed traps.”

“They consistently have radar on that street, especially where all those townhomes are located….” she added.

A Scottsdale Police spokesman said the department “does not participate in speed traps.”

“Officers patrol the city and use input from its citizens using a 480-312-CARS (2277) regarding traffic complaints and interactions with the public,” Sgt. Kevin Quon said.

“Citizens and community members can also contact the City Traffic Engineering Department, via the City of Scottsdale website, for concerns such as speed limits, speed bump requests and other items related to traffic engineering.”

The Progress analyzed Scottsdale Police citation data over the past year to assess the validity of the speed trap claims. 

The data included citations for aggressive driving, reckless driving and various other speeding-related charges between June 13, 2020 and June 12, 2021.

According to the data, Chaparral Road ranked fifth citywide with 232 total citations in that time despite the road’s relatively short length.

Chaparral Road in Scottsdale runs just under 3 miles, and the 1-mile stretch between Scottsdale and Hayden roads – the area where Collins was stopped – accounted for 200 of the 232 citations.

By comparison, three of the other top-five streets for speed-related citations run well over 10 miles long.

Scottsdale and Hayden roads, which each run over 19 miles long, had 430 and 224 citations, respectively. 

Shea Boulevard runs about 12 miles through Scottsdale and had 370 citations.

The only other exception was Indian School Road, the street with the most speeding-related citations. Indian School is just under four miles long in Scottsdale and had 466 citations, according to the data.