Edmund R. Michie
​Attorney at law

Charged with

Eluding Police?

Free Consultation and Reasonable Rates
Office in Charlottesville, Virginia
​
​​(434) 296-1198

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Personal Attention to Every Case

​Representing Central Virginia Clients 
​for Over 30 Years

Experience Matters

I've been honored to be chosen by multiple lawyers and law professors for
​legal representation of themselves or their family members on criminal and traffic cases. 
​Let me put my experience to work for you.

Eluding Police

The outcome of all traffic cases
can be greatly affected by:

Whether You Decide to Hire an Attorney
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20 COMMON ISSUES and DECISIONS ​
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Eluding / Failure to Stop for Police

Failing to stop for an officer can be a very serious crime in Virginia, depending on the facts. 

Va. Code § 46.2-817 states as follows:

"A. Any person who, having received a visible or audible signal from any law-enforcement officer to bring his motor vehicle to a stop, drives such motor vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard of such signal or who attempts to escape or elude such law-enforcement officer whether on foot, in the vehicle, or by any other means, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of this subsection if the defendant shows he reasonably believed he was being pursued by a person other than a law-enforcement officer.

B. Any person who, having received a visible or audible signal from any law-enforcement officer to bring his motor vehicle to a stop, drives such motor vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard of such signal so as to interfere with or endanger the operation of the law-enforcement vehicle or endanger a person is guilty of a Class 6 felony. It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of this subsection if the defendant shows he reasonably believed he was being pursued by a person other than a law-enforcement officer.

C. If a law-enforcement officer pursues a person as a result of a violation of subsection B and the law-enforcement officer is killed as a direct and proximate result of the pursuit, the person who violated subsection B is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

D. When any person is convicted of an offense under this section, in addition to the other penalties provided in this section, the driver's license of such person shall be suspended by the court for a period of not less than thirty days nor more than one year. However, in any case where the speed of such person is determined to have exceeded the maximum allowed by twenty miles per hour, his driver's license shall be suspended by the court trying the case for a period of not less than ninety days. In case of conviction and suspension, the court or judge shall order the surrender of the license to the court, which shall dispose of it in accordance with the provisions of § 46.2-398.

E. Violation of this section shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. If the acts or activities violating this section also violate another provision of law, a prosecution under this section shall not prohibit or bar any prosecution or proceeding under such other provision or the imposition of any penalties provided for thereby."

1964, c. 614, § 46.1-192.1; 1984, cc. 544, 780; 1988, c. 307; 1989, c. 727; 1993, c. 796; 1996, cc. 577, 817; 1999, c. 720; 2000, c. 315; 2002, c. 505; 2008, cc. 773, 811; 2010, c. 655.