Flee to Elude in Polk County, FL

Effective October 1, 2025, Florida increased the ranking for specified fleeing or attempting to elude offenses on the offense severity ranking chart (OSRC) of the Criminal Punishment Code, as follows:

• Fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer in a patrol vehicle with siren and lights activated, while driving at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety, from a Level 4 to a Level 5 offense; and
• Aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude when leaving the scene of a crash and causing injury to a person or damage to property, from a Level 5 to a Level 6 offense.

The new legislation also created a sentencing multiplier for second or subsequent fleeing or attempting to elude offenses. Under the multiplier, a convicted defendant’s subtotal sentencing points are multiplied by 1.5 if:

1.  the primary offense is fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer or aggravated fleeing or eluding, and
2. there is one or more prior violation for fleeing or attempting to elude in the offender’s record.

The new legislation also narrows the current requirement for an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle to prominently display “agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings” for specified fleeing or attempting to elude offenses to apply, and instead requires such patrol vehicles to display only “agency jurisdictional markings.”

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer Section 316.1935, F.S., prohibits various offenses of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer (LEO) and provides various penalties and offense severity rankings ranging from a third degree felony (ranked as a Level 1 offense) to a first degree felony (ranked as a Level 8 offense), depending on the severity of the conduct associated with the offense, as described below.

Attorney for Flee to Elude Crimes in Polk County, FL

Law enforcement officers aggressively investigate crimes for fleeing to elude. In order to deter others from committing the crime, the penalties are harsh. After an arrest, law enforcement officers are likely to seize your vehicle for forfeiture.

If you were arrested for fleeing or attempting to elude in Polk County, FL, then contact an experienced attorney at Sammis Law Firm. We represent clients charged with serious traffic crimes such as DUI, racing, reckless driving, and fleeing or attempting to elude.

Prosecutors often want prison time, especially when the charge carries the mandatory minimum term of three years imprisonment for driving recklessly or at a high rate of speed while fleeing. Depending on the way the charge is filed, you might also be facing a revocation of your driver’s license for one to five years.

Call 813-250-0500.

Fleeing or attempting to elude a LEO

Under Florida Statute Section 316.1935(1), a person operating a vehicle commits a third degree felony (ranked as a Level 1 offense on the OSRC) if, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized LEO, he or she:

1. Willfully refuses or fails to stop the vehicle in compliance with such order; or
2. Having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully flees in an attempt to elude the LEO.

Fleeing or attempting to elude a LEO in a patrol vehicle with siren and lights activated

Under s. 316.1935(2), F.S., a person commits a third degree felony (ranked as a Level 3 offense on the OSRC) if, having been directed to stop by a duly authorized LEO:

1. The person willfully flees in a vehicle in an attempt to elude a LEO; and
2. The LEO was in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed and with siren and lights activated.

Driving at a high speed or with wanton disregard for safety while fleeing

Under s. 316.1935(3), F.S., a person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a LEO in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed and with siren and lights activated, and who during the course of the fleeing or attempted eluding:

1. Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, commits a second degree felony (ranked as Level 4 offense on the OSRC).
2. Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, and causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any LEO involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits a first degree felony (ranked as a Level 7 offense on the OSRC).

The court must also sentence a person who commits this crime to a mandatory minimum term of three years imprisonment.

Aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude when leaving the scene of a crash

Under s. 316.1935(4), F.S., a person who, in the course of unlawfully leaving or attempting to leave the scene of a crash in violation of s. 316.027, F.S., or s. 316.061, F.S., having knowledge of an order to stop by a duly authorized LEO, willfully refuses or fails to stop in compliance with such order, or having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully flees in an attempt to elude such LEO and, as a result of such fleeing or eluding:

1. Causes injury to another person or causes damage to any property belonging to another person, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding, a second degree felony (ranked as a Level 5 offense on the OSRC).
2. Causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any LEO involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person’s vehicle, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding with serious bodily injury or death, a first degree felony (ranked as a Level 8 offense on the OSRC).

The court must also sentence a person who commits this crime to a mandatory minimum term of three years imprisonment.

Anyone who commits a violation of fleeing or attempting to elude is not eligible for a suspended, deferred, or withheld sentence, and any motor vehicle involved in such a violation is considered contraband, may be seized by a law enforcement agency, and is subject to forfeiture under ss. 932.701–932.704, F.S. of Florida’s Contraband Forfeiture Act.

Section 316.1935(5), F.S., requires a court to revoke the driver license of any motor vehicle operator convicted of a violation of fleeing or attempting to elude for a period not less than one (1) year and not exceeding (5) years.

This article was last updated on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.