Friday, April 9, 2004
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Friday, April 9, 2004 |
| Legislature approves bill to make fleeing police a felony By JOHN MUNFORD Criminals who flee a police officer at high speeds or cause a collision that kills or injures an innocent party could be charged with a felony if a new bill is approved by the Georgia House of Representatives. The bill has been approved by the Senate and is expected to come up for a vote in the House today. Currently, the charge of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer is a misdemeanor unless the suspect is fleeing to escape arrest for a felony charge, officials said. If the charges on the motorist are misdemeanor in nature, the charge of fleeing and attempting to elude is also a misdemeanor. In the amendment filed by state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg, the law is changed so that fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer will automatically become a felony. Language in the amendment also allows the fleeing and attempting to elude charge to be added if the motorist “operates his or her vehicle in such a manner that a pursuing police officer in a police vehicle must strike or collide with his or her vehicle in order to stop it.” Violators of the amended law would be guilty of a felony and face a minimum of sentence of one year in jail and a minimum fine of $5,000, according to the law. The law defines the offense of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer as any motorist who attempts to escape arrest for a felony and: • Operates the vehicle in excess of 30 mph over the posted speed limit. • Strikes or collides with another vehicle or a pedestrian. • Flees in traffic conditions which place the general public at risk of receiving serious injuries or if the motorist leaves the state. Seabaugh, who represents part of west Fayette County in the legislature tried to get similar legislation passed last year in the wake of a high speed police chase through Peachtree City that killed local resident Chuck Vicha July 27, 2002. The fleeing motorist in that case, Lorraine McCrary, was driving at a high speed when her SUV struck Vicha’s minivan; he was pronounced dead at the scene. McCrary, 38, later pled guilty to vehicular homicide in the first degree and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. At the time of the collision, McCrary was being pursued by officers from the Luthersville Police Department. Last year, with Seabaugh’s assistance, the legislature passed a law requiring all police agencies to develop pursuit policies to address how chases will be handled when they enter other jurisdictions. That bill was affectionately referred to as “Chuck’s Law” by Seabaugh when Governor Sonny Perdue signed the bill at a brief ceremony in June. Chuck’s mother, Alice Vicha, has lobbied for more legislation to help prevent a tragedy such as happened to her son. She wants police officers to receive more training on how to end high-speed chases; at a Senate hearing last year, police representatives said such specialized training is not given to officers before they graduate the basic police academy.
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