Last Updated on July 2, 2025
When you see a police car’s flashing lights, you are expected to pull over, even if only to get out of the way. But failing to do so does not constitute evading arrest in California, nor is the definition limited to the high-speed chases commonly seen on TV news programs —in fact, most cases of police evasion do not involve these types of chases at all. Anyone accused of evading the police in Vista or the rest of San Diego County should immediately contact an attorney, no matter the case’s specifics.
What Does it Mean to Evade a Peace Officer?
California Vehicle Code section 2800 (VC) makes it illegal to refuse to comply with the instructions of a police officer, including:
- running from an officer on foot after being told to stay in place.
- refusing to get out of a vehicle after a Sheriff’s deputy tells you to.
- driving through an area that has been closed off by the highway patrol.
A subsection of this law, California Vehicle Code section 2800.1 (VC), covers most cases where people are accused of evading police. This charge makes it illegal to use a motor vehicle to evade a pursuing peace officer.
More serious subsections of the law are California Vehicle Code sections 2800.2 (VC) and 2800.3 (VC), both felonies. 2800.2 (VC) covers reckless driving while evading police officers, which could include serious reckless driving offenses like running a red light or participating in a high-speed chase to escape from a law enforcement vehicle. Reckless evasion charges can also be filed if you violate three traffic laws or cause property damage of any kind while fleeing the police.
When someone causes great bodily injury or death while trying to evade the police, then the most serious of these charges is applied under 2800.3 (VC).
Additionally, many persons charged with evading are also accused of resisting arrest, disturbing the police, or other driving crimes. As soon as you are arrested for evading a peace officer, you should call an expert San Diego criminal defense attorney to help you fight all charges related to the incident.
Penalties for Evading a Police Officer in Vista
Disobeying a police officer under 2800 (VC) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail. If you evade the officer in your vehicle under 2800.1 (VC), the charge is a little more serious and punishable by up to 1 year in county jail.
While most evasion charges are misdemeanors, if you tried to outrun the police using reckless driving tactics, you could be charged with felony reckless evading under 2800.2 (VC).
Despite the name, this charge can be filed as a misdemeanor, but even misdemeanor evading charges that involve reckless driving carry a mandatory sentence of at least six months in jail. Although the law requires 180 days in jail as a minimum mandatory sentence for felony reckless evasion from the police, a new court of appeal case says a judge can instead grant probation without a minimum jail term. As a felony, it is punishable by up to 3 years in prison.
The most serious charge related to evading police in California is 2800.3 (VC), which is filed when someone is severely injured or killed as a result of the evasion. When the victim has been hurt, the crime is a wobbler, meaning it can be filed as a felony or misdemeanor. As a misdemeanor, this charge carries a sentence of up to 1 year in jail, but as a felony, it is punishable by up to 7 years in prison. When someone has been killed due to your driving, the charge is always a felony, and the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison.
Proving Charges of Disobeying or Evading a Police Officer
To prove someone disobeyed an officer, the prosecution must show that the defendant willfully refused or neglected to comply with a lawful order from a uniformed peace officer performing their duties. If you didn’t comply with the directions of a plain-clothes officer or an off-duty officer, you are not guilty of this crime. Similarly, if your failure to comply was not willful, you did not break the law. As an example, if your breaks went out and you couldn’t pull over safely when an officer turned on his siren, you were not refusing to pull over.
For you to have committed any crime involving evading a peace officer in a vehicle, you must have either tried to evade or flee from an officer who was pursuing you in a marked motorized vehicle. That may sound like a reasonably straightforward charge, but there is a lot the prosecutor must be able to prove for you to be found guilty. They must be able to show that:
- You willfully fled from a police officer
- The police vehicle was distinctively marked
- That the officer’s vehicle had at least one lighted red lamp visible from the front
- You either saw or should have seen the lights of the police car
- The officer was sounding a siren, as was reasonable
- The officer driving the vehicle was wearing a distinctive uniform
If not all of those requirements have been met, then your attorney will argue that the state did not meet all the legal standards necessary to convict you of evading a police officer. These laws were passed to protect civilians from persons trying to impersonate an officer of the law by ensuring that a real police officer always will use the same standard tactics and have some visible proof of their authority when pulling over a civilian.
Call a Defense Attorney
While the burden of proof is relatively high for the prosecution to meet in these cases, anyone faced with this serious charge in Vista or San Diego County should contact a skilled criminal defense attorney, as these crimes carry substantial sentences. If you have been accused of disobeying or evading the police under 2800 (VC), 2800.1 (VC), 2800.2 (VC), or 2800.3 (VC), please call attorney Peter M. Liss at (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024 as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation.
