Vehicular Eluding is a serious felony offense. If you are facing charges of Vehicular Eluding, it is advisable that you immediately consult with and hire a criminal defense attorney to represent you in your case.
A person commits vehicular eluding when they knowingly elude or attempt to elude a police officer, while both are operating motor vehicles, and that person knows or should know that he is being pursued by that peace officer. Also, the driver must be driving his vehicle in a reckless manner for the driving to constitute vehicular eluding. A classic example would be a high speed car chase on a freeway – with the driver weaving in and out of traffic to get away from the police officer in pursuit of his vehicle. Because the intent of this statute is to protect members of the general public, it is unnecessary that a particular victim be identified prior to charging a defendant with vehicular eluding.
Vehicular eluding is a class 5 felony, having a minimum fine of two thousand dollars. However, it becomes a class 4 felony if the driver’s conduct results in bodily injury to another person, and it becomes a class 3 felony if the conduct results in death to any person. A conviction for vehicular eluding would result in a revocation of your driving privileges, and is subject to a possible sentence to the department of corrections.
Vehicular eluding is not the same as eluding a peace officer, although the offenses are somewhat similar. Eluding or attempting to allude a peace officer is only a class 2 traffic misdemeanor. While eluding a peace officer does involve an individual eluding A peace officer who has given him some indication that he should bring his vehicle to a stop (for example, turning on overhead lights or a siren), it does not involve an individual driving in a reckless manner such that others are placed in danger. While this charge is significantly less serious that vehicular eluding, it nonetheless remains a twelve point offense and therefore will result in a loss of driving privileges should the driver be convicted.
