All of us have probably had the experience of hearing an emergency siren approaching from the rear of our vehicle and pulling over to allow it to pass. We know that police also have the authority to direct us to pull over by signaling with a siren, flashing lights, or even verbal instructions.
No one likes the feeling of being pulled over by the police. But refusing to stop or stopping and fleeing from the police is a serious criminal offense that carries severe penalties, including years in prison.
Florida Law
Florida’s law governing a motorist’s duty to stop when ordered to do so by police is found in Florida Statute 316.1935.
The law requiring drivers to stop when directed to do so by authorized officials provides the following:
- Any person driving on Florida’s roads or highway
- who knows an authorized police officer is ordering them to stop, and
- willfully refuses or fails to stop, or stops and then flees, attempting to elude police
can be convicted of a 3rd-degree felony and sentenced to up to 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. But only if the government also proves significant facts about the “authorized police.”
The statute specifies that the “authorized police” vehicle should have visible agency insignias and other jurisdictional markings and have its sirens and lights activated.
The requirement that the police be in a marked vehicle and have its lights and siren activated is intended to permit the offending driver to be on notice that the signaling vehicle is a police patrol unit.
Does this mean a driver is free to flee from an unmarked police vehicle in which police detectives are activating lights and a siren? No, not in most cases. However, a motorist who has reasonable cause to doubt the authenticity or identity of the signaling vehicle’s occupants may have a viable defense to criminal charges alleging that they willfully refused to stop or fled from police.
Aggravated Fleeing and Attempting to Elude Police
While refusing to stop or fleeing from police after a driver knows they’ve been ordered to pull over is a serious 3rd-degree felony, a driver can markedly increase the seriousness of the offense by driving at a high speed while attempting to elude police or by being involved in an accident in which property was damaged or someone was injured or killed.
Fleeing police or eluding police at a high speed can also result in prosecution for the enhanced criminal charge of Eluding by High-Speed Reckless Driving. And if a reckless driving charge arises from a driver’s eluding police at high speed, the penalty will potentially include up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine as a 2nd-degree felony. The potential for injury to members of the public by recklessly driving to elude police is viewed by Florida law as justifying the enhancement of the penalty.
Eluding Police with Property Damage
If during the course of eluding police, a fleeing driver is involved in an accident in which another person’s property is damaged, the penalty also is enhanced to a 2nd-degree felony, including up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Felony Hit and Run May Also Be Charged
Other serious felonies that a driver fleeing police might face include “leaving the scene of an accident” without fulfilling the identification requirements mandated by law. While a fleeing driver whose attempt to elude police ends in a crash with another vehicle may not leave the scene, drivers fleeing police often collide with other vehicles and continue in flight. By failing to stop at the scene of each such accident, a driver will invite multiple counts of hit-and-run.
Depending on the damage suffered by the victim’s property or the injuries inflicted on the victim’s body, the fleeing driver will face either 2nd-degree felony or 1st-degree felony penalties, from up to 15 years in prison to up to 30 years in prison.
Eluding Police Causing Serious Bodily Injury or Death
In the worst-case scenario, a fleeing driver eluding police who seriously injures or kills another person will be charged with a 1st-degree felony and face up to 30 years in state prison and a $15,000 fine.
Can You Defend a Fleeing and Eluding Police Charge in Florida? YES.
An experienced Florida criminal defense lawyer knows that there are several effective defenses when a client is facing Fleeing and Eluding charges. The crime can only be committed when the driver has the specific intent to flee and/or elude the police.
Convicting a driver of this offense requires that the prosecution establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew the party signaling them to stop was an authorized police officer. Flashing lights and sirens can be purchased from any number of sources, online or from after-market suppliers. Stopping without considering the identity of the party signaling can be extremely dangerous, especially for women, a person carrying valuables or large sums of cash, or someone who has been the object of threats.
Whether a driver was driving “recklessly” is also a matter to be determined by the individual facts and circumstances of the case. A driver who travels at 60 miles an hour on a residential street at dusk with playgrounds and schools in the area may be driving more recklessly than a driver traveling at the same speed on a freeway. The issue is whether the driver was operating with wanton and reckless disregard for the safety of others in the totality of the circumstances.
Read More > Never Speak to Police Without an Attorney Present
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense
If you are charged with fleeing or eluding the police in Hillsborough County or Pinellas County, contact our office for a review of your case today. We defend every person accused of a crime because we believe in the rights and protections enjoyed by every criminal defendant.
Contact us today for a case review at 813-280-1244. We are ready to defend you.
