A wild ride to Atlantic City (with related video)

You’ve probably seen police escorts before, perhaps for some government official or even a funeral procession. But odds are you’ve never seen a police escort like this — New Jersey State Police troopers hurtling along the freeway at 100 mph to escort a caravan of luxury cars to the casinos at Atlantic City.

That is what witnesses reported seeing March 30 on the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Two state troopers have been suspended and a station commander reassigned while officials investigate the unauthorized escort. And apparently, this wasn’t the first time. A video surfaced showing a similar police-escorted high rollers caravan in 2010 (see video below).

In last month’s incident, witnesses said they saw two State Police patrol cars with emergency lights flashing, escorting dozens of vehicles that included Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris, all with their license plates covered with tape. “One witness dubbed the escort ‘Death Race 2012,’” according to the Star-Ledger.

The escort was requested by former New York Giants star and two-time Super Bowl champion Brandon Jacobs, according to an attorney for one of the suspended troopers. One member of the caravan later posted on his Facebook page, “Big thanks to Brandon Jacobs for a ‘very fun’ run” to Atlantic City, according to the newspaper.

The earlier police escort was revealed by two young men who happened upon the procession and then posted a video to YouTube. The men joined the caravan, struggling to keep up as their speedometer topped at 120 mph.

The cars were headed to a jewelers/Ferrari rally, according to the video, which showed some of the vehicles weaving in and out of traffic. At two points in the video, other state troopers not in the caravan escort can be seen pulling over other drivers.