Four People Arrested After Police Chase From Hall County to Gwinnett County

Yesterday afternoon, a police officer attempted a routine traffic stop of a vehicle in Hall County for speeding in Georgia.

The incident happened near Friendship Road, and once the car pulled over, two men ran from the scene. Police originally believed that the men had hijacked the car from the two female passengers. However, after further investigation, it has been determined that the observed struggle before the stop was actually a passenger switching seats with the driver of the vehicle. 

The vehicle headed south, and Georgia State Patrol took over on I-85 in Gwinnett County. The GSP trooper performed a PIT maneuver near the intersection of I-285 and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. 

The car crashed, but fortunately, no one was injured. All four people are in custody. 

As a Georgia DUI Lawyer, I handle cases involving police chases pretty frequently. Most people charged with fleeing or attempting to elude an officer in Georgia make rash decisions to run away from the police because of fear or a one-time lapse in judgment. 

Either way - in today's post, I will outline the law behind fleeing an officer in the state of Georgia and explain the repercussions if convicted of the offense.

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude an Officer in Georgia

Georgia Law defines fleeing or attempting to elude an officer as:

It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop. The signal given by the police officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle. O.C.G.A. §40-6-395(a).

As I mentioned above, the majority of people who get pulled over by police do not want to submit to a possible investigation, citation, or arrest. 

Unfortunately, this results in rushed decisions to attempt to outrun police which has some serious consequences nonetheless. The offense of fleeing an officer is classified as a high and aggravated misdemeanor in Georgia. There are even some circumstances that can cause it to be classified as a felony offense.

If the circumstances of fleeing an officer result in risking the general public's safety or in striking or colliding with a vehicle or a pedestrian, then the offense will most likely be treated as a felony.

Practice Note

Most drivers do not think of the consequences when they make the decision to outrun the cops. However, this does not mean that they should pay with a felony offense. 

As a Georgia DUI Attorney, I handle cases involving serious traffic violations the majority of the time. If you or a loved one has been arrested or cited for a serious traffic violation such as DUI in Georgia, contact our offices today.