Two men In Oakland Park suspected of stealing a golf cart and hooking it up to a truck allegedly led police on a chase from Oakland Park in Broward County all the way down to Hialeah in Miami-Dade County.
A police chase, in terms of an actual offense, is known as fleeing and eluding. Fleeing and eluding is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Aggravated fleeing and eluding occurs when officers have lights and sirens activated and you are leading police on a chase at high speed. Aggravated fleeing and eluding is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Both fleeing and eluding charges carry mandatory convictions (adjudications) and mandatory 1-year driver's license suspensions.
Eric Matheny is a criminal defense attorney serving Miami-Dade and Broward.