Fulton County Suspect Leads Police Chase in DeKalb County

According to reports out of DeKalb County, a man has been arrested after allegedly leading officers on a police chase in a stolen vehicle.

The situation arose out of communication between Fulton County and DeKalb County. Fulton County authorities contacted authorities in DeKalb for help with tracking down some suspects that were accused of stealing vehicles as well as committing armed robbery. Investigators agreed, and when they found one of the stolen vehicle it started a high speed chase resulting in one arrest.

In today's post, I will outline the law behind what results in a police chase - the crime of fleeing or attempting to elude in Georgia.

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude an Officer in Georgia

Fleeing or attempting to elude in Georgia is defined by Georgia Law in the first portion of the law:

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.

This portion of the law is classified as a high and aggravated misdemeanor in Georgia. The next portion of the law defines the circumstances in which the offense is elevated to a felony offense.

The law is as follows:

Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section who, while fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer in an attempt to escape arrest for any offense, other than a violation of this chapter not expressly provided for in this paragraph:

(i) Operates his or her vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit;

(ii) Strikes or collides with another vehicle or a pedestrian;

(iii) Flees in traffic conditions which place the general public at risk of receiving serious injuries;

(iv) Commits a violation of paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-391; or

(v) Leaves the state

shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of $5,000.00 or imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years or both.

Practice Note

Most people are under the impression that traffic violations are not too serious - that they can be shrugged off or not have long-lasting consequences. This is false. As you can see from the law above, there are many offenses and circumstances that result in some very serious penalties.

If you or a loved one has been arrested, contact our offices now.