Police Chase Ends in Shooting in Austell

Cobb County Superior Court

Austell, Ga. - According to Cobb County police, a teenager has been killed after a police chase that resulted in the arrest of two other teenagers.

Police identified an alleged stolen vehicle. They attempted to pull the vehicle over on Riverside Parkway. However, the driver kept going which started the police chase. The vehicle crashed into a dead end. The teenagers were allegedly holding firearms and one of the teenagers got shot by another officer.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into the police shooting. However, as a Georgia DUI Lawyer, I will outline the second offense the teenagers are accused of committing - fleeing or attempting to elude.

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude in Georgia

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 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.

A first time offense of fleeing or attempting to elude is classified as a high and aggravated misdemeanor in the state of Georgia. This means that if a person is convicted of fleeing or attempting to elude, he or she is facing up to 12 months of jail time as well as fines up to $5,000.

However, there are circumstances that can exacerbate the penalties associated with a charge of fleeing or attempting to elude. These circumstances include when a driver flees and:

(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.
If a driver flees under any one of the above-mentioned circumstances, then a person is facing a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude.

Practice Note

Fleeing is commonly seen in DUI cases. If arrested for DUI in Georgia, contact our offices now. We can help you today.