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House passes Ross-sponsored
bill on felony eluding
Act named
for Yakima men killed in connection with eluding case
Rep.
Charles Ross came to the House of Representatives vowing to
strengthen the state's law against eluding a pursuing law enforcement
officer. This evening he moved much closer to fulfilling that promise when
the House of Representatives adopted an important amendment he offered
on
House Bill 1030, then approved the legislation with a unanimous
vote.
"A car in the hands of
someone trying to elude the police is a two-ton weapon that can tear a
family apart. We saw that happen in Yakima this past fall, and other
communities have suffered the same sort of tragedy," said Ross,
R-Naches. "For some criminals, this bill would create a deterrent. For
those who aren't deterred, and are convicted, it would raise the
punishment to what I see as a more appropriate level."
When the bill came before
the House public safety committee, on which Ross serves, he obtained
approval of his amendment to name it the Guillermo "Bobby" Aguilar and Edgar F.
Trevino-Mendoza Public Safety Act of 2007. The two young Yakima men died
last fall after their car was struck by a vehicle that was being chased
by police.
This evening he obtained
approval from the House for another amendment, which would add one day
to the 12-month sentence already proposed in the measure.
"A sentence of 12 months
plus one day puts you into state prison instead of a county jail," said
Ross. "That would make a huge difference to local governments which are
already hard-pressed to fund law enforcement and justice. I think they'd
be encouraged to push hard on an eluding case if they can be spared the
cost of jailing someone for a year. My amendment would guarantee time
behind bars.
“I want criminals who see a patrol car’s lights flashing in their rear
view mirror to ask themselves, when they’re deciding whether to hit the
accelerator: is trying to outrun this officer worth a year in prison on
top of any other sentence I might receive?”
Ross had introduced his
own, stronger legislation against eluding, but
House Bill 1198 didn't receive committee approval.
Contact: Rep. Charles Ross (509) 945-0082
Eric Campbell, House Republican Communications, (360) 786-7720
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