zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Connecticut Track Owner Arrested In Connection With Human-Trafficking Ring
Connecticut Track Owner Arrested In Connection With Human-Trafficking Ring-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:24

The owner of a Connecticut short track was arrested this week for his part in a human-trafficking ring in which young men with mental illnesses were brought to him and paid for sex acts, local station reported. NASCAR dropped the sanctions for its regional touring series at the track soon after.

The dropped NASCAR sanctions, effective immediately, include those for the Whelen Modified Tour and the Whelen All-American Series at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, a Twitter account representing the sanctioning body’s regional tracks Thursday morning.

Police arrested the Speedbowl’s owner, petroleum business owner Bruce Bemer, on March 30, News 8 reported. Police charged both Bemer, 63, and an accomplice, with patronizing a trafficked person. Their arrests came after the arrest of Robert King, an alleged customer of Bemer’s who was charged with promoting prostitution.

According to News 8, the FBI entered the investigation in January of 2016. The station reports that Bemer refused to comment on the situation while leaving court the week of his arrest, and that those at his business would not discuss the charges either.

But here’s what police say about the situation:

According to police, Robert King, who was already arrested in connection with this case back in August of 2016, and William Trefzger were operating a prostitution ring. The two men recruited young males and delivered them to Bruce Bemer, and others, for prostitution.

According to the arrest warrant, Robert King, going back approximately 20 years, sought out young men with varying degrees of psychological disabilities for the purpose of using these individuals for prostitution. The arrest warrant goes on to say King would fraudulently befriend the young males. He would offer them work, food, money, and other fake inducements, as well as providing them with illegal drugs to the point that they were financially indebted to him.

According to the station, the arrest warrant continues by saying that King had the men “pay off the debt they owed him” by trading sex for money in Danbury, Connecticut. Bemer said he paid around $200 per occasion and the warrant said the men appeared to be mentally ill, according to News 8.

A judge set Bemer’s bond at $500,000. The outlet reports that he was bonded out and will appear in count again on April 26.

The Speedbowl states the track, a three-eights-mile asphalt oval, opened in 1951. Bemer took it over prior to the 2015 season.

According to the , two men claiming to be victims in the trafficking are seeking the freeze the assets of both Bemer and Trefzger. If successful, the asset freeze would prevent Bemer from selling the speedway and his fuel company in order to pay any legal debt.

Thanks for the email, !

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Man Arrested For Choking Fiancée While Arguing About NASCAR Vs. IndyCar
Man Arrested For Choking Fiancée While Arguing About NASCAR Vs. IndyCar
An argument as to whether NASCAR or IndyCar was better turned sour for one Indiana couple. According to , David Wilson was so convinced that NASCAR was the superior series that he allegedly choked his fiancée over it. Wilson’s fiancée was watching the Indianapolis 500 in the living room as...
Oct 15, 2026
Sound Check Sessions: Koenigsegg One:1 Or LaFerrari?
Sound Check Sessions: Koenigsegg One:1 Or LaFerrari?
Can a 789 horsepower Ferrari V12 possibly sound better than a twin-turbo Koenigsegg V8 producing one megawatt of holy force? I guess it’s about time we find out! Koenigsegg’s test driver Robert Serwanski went to Suzuka Circuit with one of the five in existence and came back with a video...
Oct 15, 2026
Jump Onboard Richard Petty's 200MPH Plymouth Superbird 45 Years Later
Jump Onboard Richard Petty's 200MPH Plymouth Superbird 45 Years Later
NASCAR icon Richard Petty hasn’t driven his 1970 Superbird stock car that gave a character to Pixar’s Cars since the end of the 1970 season, but as he is a regular , he’s about to fire her up next month. Goodwood Road & Racing’s Andy is a proper muscle car...
Oct 15, 2026
Is This The Most 1990s Race Car Ever?
Is This The Most 1990s Race Car Ever?
I happened to stumble across this picture and holy shit this is so ‘90s I just bombed Kuwait. You’re looking at the second-placed finisher of the TI Circuit Aida Group A 300km, a round of the 1992 All Japan Touring Car Championship. The car is the #22 Object-T Nissan Skyline...
Oct 15, 2026
This Is Six Minutes Of Walter Röhrl In A Porsche GT3 RS At Full Gas
This Is Six Minutes Of Walter Röhrl In A Porsche GT3 RS At Full Gas
He makes keeping 500 horsepower together on a track look so easy! The thing about rally legends is that the cars they pushed towards victory back in the day had lots of power but not such wizardry as carbon brakes, a magnesium roof, carbon body panels, a PDK automatic gearbox,...
Oct 15, 2026
Rally Portugal Safety Car Catches Fire On Stage, Left To Burn
Rally Portugal Safety Car Catches Fire On Stage, Left To Burn
The 00 car at a rally has an important function: run the course before the competitors to inspect everything from signage and bannering to whether or not spectators are in the right locations. That is, unless it’s on fire. Then it doesn’t do a very good job of checking anything....
Oct 15, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved