ST. PAUL, MN – Senator Julia Coleman, recently introduced a bill to create a new penalty for recklessly endangering the public while fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.

Senator Coleman, who has been working with law enforcement officials since elected to help reduce crime, discovered a gap in statute after her family was caught in the middle of a police chase earlier last year. While there are penalties for fleeing peace officers and hurting members of the public, there are no explicit penalties for recklessly endangering the public while fleeing a peace officer. Actions covered under this statute could include:

• Reaching speeds of 100 or 120 miles per hour on a freeway
• Going the wrong way on a freeway
• Running red lights
• Using dangerous speeds in residential neighborhoods
• Placing people in harm’s way in crowded parking lots

“There is a key difference between fleeing in a vehicle without putting others at a large risk and fleeing with a reckless disregard for others,” said Coleman. “The new four-year penalty I am proposing in my bill is necessary to properly sentence those who carelessly put the public at risk.”

The bill passed out of its first committee Thursday, Feb. 10, and will now go to the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, where the criminal penalty for fleeing a peace officer will be further reviewed.