If you flee the police by car in a dangerous way, you may be charged with a felony.
Car chases can be exciting when we watch them on TV. They are a staple of many crime dramas and action movies. A person wants to get away from the police, and so they drive on sidewalks, turn the wrong way down streets, or even smash through fences in order to escape. These kind of scenes make for great TV — but if you attempt it in real life, you will likely be charged with a felony.
A prosecutor may charge you with reckless evading if you flee from law enforcement in a car and drive in a dangerous and/or reckless manner while doing so. According to a criminal defense attorney in Riverside, CA, you are guilty of reckless evading if you (1) evaded an officer while driving a motor vehicle, and (2) in doing so, you drove with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or their property.
Evading an officer has a specific meaning in California. It only occurs when (1) a police officer in a motor vehicle was pursuing you; (2) you willfully fled from or tried to flee from them in a motor vehicle, with a specific intent of evading them; and (3) the officer and/or their car must have been distinctively marked. In other words, you did tried to flee on purpose. If a police officer is following you, attempting to pull you over for a traffic violation, and you simply don’t notice them and keep driving, then you did not evade an officer.
Willful or wanton disregard for safety means that you were aware that your actions posed an unjustifiable risk of harm, and you intentionally ignored that risk. For example, if a police officer is attempting to pull you over, and you speed through a school zone before crashing, you may be charged with reckless evading because you were aware of the risk of speeding in a school zone, and your actions posed an unjustifiable risk of harm to the students at the school.
Reckless evading is a wobbler, which means that the prosecutor can charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances of the crime and your criminal history. Typically, prosecutors will charge reckless evading as a felony. In that case, it is punishable by felony probation, between 16 months and 3 years in California state prison, and/or a fine of up to $10,000. If charged as a misdemeanor, the punishment includes misdemeanor probation, between 6 months and one year in county jail, and/or a fine of up to $1,000. In both cases, the vehicle that you used will be impounded and your driver’s license will be suspended as a condition of your probation.
If you have been charged with reckless evading or a related offense, you will need an aggressive criminal defense attorney in Riverside, CA to represent you. The Chambers Law Firm offers skilled legal representation for Californians charged with all types of crimes. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation.
