Atchison County crackdown catches driver cited at 97 mph on U.S. 73
A 97 mph stop on U.S. 73 topped Atchison County’s Memorial Day enforcement, which also caught speeding in a construction zone and on River Road.
A driver clocked at 97 mph on U.S. 73 became the most striking stop in Atchison County’s Memorial Day weekend traffic enforcement, a patrol effort that put deputies on the county roads residents use every day.
Sheriff Jack Laurie’s office said 21-year-old Atticus Lawson of Olathe was cited Saturday after radar showed him allegedly traveling 97 mph in a posted 65 mph zone near Jewell Road. The same enforcement run also produced a Friday evening stop on U.S. 59 near 258th Road, where 46-year-old Andrew Torrez of Topeka was cited for 61 mph in a 35 mph construction zone.
Other high-speed citations spread across the county. Tony Schuetz, a 64-year-old from Bonner Springs, was cited for 79 mph in a 65 mph zone on U.S. 73 near Lincoln Road. A 16-year-old girl from St. Joseph, Missouri, was cited for 60 mph in a 20 mph zone on River Road. Austin Stephan, 35, of Winchester was cited Monday morning for 82 mph in a 65 mph zone on U.S. 73 near 258th Road.
The stops put a spotlight on the same corridors that connect Atchison County towns, farms, homes and work sites, especially U.S. 73, U.S. 59, River Road and nearby county routes. They also came in a stretch of holiday traffic when construction activity and heavier travel can make speed more dangerous, especially in work zones where Kansas law doubles fines for violations regardless of whether workers are present.
Kansas Highway Patrol’s broader Memorial Day reporting period ran from 6 p.m. Friday, May 22, through 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 25, 2026. During that span, KHP said it assisted 472 motorists, worked two fatal non-DUI crashes, issued 786 speeding citations, and handed out 819 speeding warnings, more than double the 420 warnings recorded in 2025.
For Atchison County drivers headed into the next holiday surge, the message from the roadside stops is plain: the county’s most familiar highways can turn hazardous fast when speed climbs into the 70s, 80s and 90s, especially near construction zones and narrow rural stretches.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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