Florida Criminal Attorney Blog
The Alachua Police Department arrested a man on charges of fleeing and eluding police, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of marijuana, driving while license suspended or revoked, hit and run from an accident scene and resisting an officer. The man ended a police chase by crashing into his own home.
According to the Gainesville Sun, a 20-year-old Alachua man was spotted by an officer driving around 2:30 p.m. on Monday. The officer supposedly knew the man’s license has been suspended and attempted to pull him over.
The man allegedly lead police on a chase ignoring traffic control signs for about 15 blocks.
The man pulled into his driveway and ended the chase by crashing the car into his house. He was arrested in his back yard. The defendant was handcuffed and a search turned up marijuana and cocaine. The accused was taken to the Alachua County jail.
According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, around 30 percent of Florida’s motoring public is currently under a license suspension, revocation or disqualification. That translates to a whopping 4.6 million drivers that have their license suspended or revoked. A license can be administratively suspended through the DHSMV or it can be revoked through the court system.
In Florida, if you have three convictions for driving while your license suspended, your driver’s license will be revoked for five years as a habitual traffic offender. In 2008 the DHSMV mailed out 22,742 HTO announcements to Florida drivers. Over the course of the last three years more than 20,000 warnings went out.
You can be issued a ticket for driving with a suspended license knowingly or unknowingly.
DWLS knowingly is a criminal traffic offense that can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. DWLS unknowingly is a civil violation. If someone is arrested for DWLS while on a HTO revocation, they could face a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison.