Senate Bill No. 556
(By Senator Wiedebusch)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993;; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seventeen-a, relating to flight from police officers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seventeen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-17a. Flight from police officer.
No person may willfully fail or refuse to comply with the
lawful order of a police officer operating a police vehicle
equipped with flashing lights and a siren. The use of flashing
lights and a siren, when directed at an operator of a motor
vehicle, shall be an order directed to the operator of the motor
vehicle to immediately drive to a position parallel to, and asclose as possible to, the right hand edge or curb of the roadway
clear of any intersection and shall stop and remain in such
position until otherwise directed by the police officer. Any
person committing a violation of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
jail for six months and fined five hundred dollars.
The purpose of this bill is to render flight from a police
officer a crime.
This section is new; therefore, strike throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.