California Criminal Defense Blog

At the beginning of the day, the Manhattan Beach Police Department wanted Vincent Olivadoti for a string of felonies: identity theft, burglary, drug offenses, vandalism, and more. By the end of the day, Vincent could add another one to the list: felony reckless evasion of a peace officer.

That’s because on March 24, 2010, Vincent sped away from a routine traffic stop and led the police on a terrifying high-speed chase through a highly populated- and highly pedestrian- neighborhood in Manhattan Beach. The chase ended when Vincent crashed into another car at an intersection.

But Californians should know that they can be charged with this same felony offense in much less dramatic circumstances.

The section of the vehicle code that defines this offense-CVC 2800.2- can be broken down into two basic parts:

1. a marked police car driven by an officer follows you, sounds its siren, and flashes at least one red light that you should reasonably be able to see; and…


2. you refuse to stop, willfully disregarding the safety of other people or property in the process.

Bottom line: felony evasion of a peace officer can put people behind bars for up to a year, slap them with as much as a $10,000 fine, and subject them to enormous civil liabilities.

But that’s not all… other laws and court decisions will hold you further responsible for the damage to life and property caused by your unlawful chase.

For offenders like Vincent Olivadoti, these penalties may not seem high enough. Indeed, the vehicle code has still harsher charges for some offenders. For others, however, the penalties may not be justified. And as law enforcement continues to crack down on the embarrassing spectacle of televised high-speed chases, we can expect an increase in the number of CVC 2800.2 charges in all circumstances… justified or not.

An experienced California criminal defense attorney will be able to distinguish between the two and successfully fight unwarranted charges.