Fleeing or Eluding a Police Officer in Pennsylvania 75 § 3733

Many people are surprised that when a person is charged with fleeing or eluding a police officer in Pennsylvania that it is only considered a second-degree misdemeanor. This comes from the logic that all police chases are like in the movies where cars crash, there is lots of speeding, and people who were not even involved end up getting hurt. Although that may unfortunately be the case sometimes, many incidents where a suspect “flees” police are small, and are not even noticed by the public. Still, all it takes is for the officer to believe that you were ignoring their siren to be hit with this charge.

This is why it is so important that if you are accused of eluding an officer in Pennsylvania that you take advantage of the counsel of a good criminal defense attorney. There are specific items within the law that determine whether or not you were actually “fleeing”. Did you even know that the police car was signaling at you to stop, or at someone else? Was there a place to pull over to stop? If there was not, or if you were otherwise hindered in some way and could not pull over or park after the sirens began blaring, then you may have a good argument in court.

The situation should be examined thoroughly. For example, in Pennsylvania, the law says that you would have had to willfully fail to stop your car when the cops signaled you.

This crime can be upgraded to a third-degree felony as well, but there has to be much more extreme circumstances, ones that really show clearly that a person was trying to elude the police who signaled them to halt.

For example, if a person who ran from the cop car was drinking at the time, the charge would definitely be taken up to a felony. Also, if they put the public in danger as they are trying to run away, the charge would be bigger. If the person crosses a State line when they are charged with fleeing or eluding police in Pennsylvania, then that is a clear sign they were trying to get away. But, if you feel that your situation was nowhere near that extreme, and that you were wrongfully charged with this questionable crime, then you should contact your criminal defense attorney immediately.