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Ross' felony eluding bill becomes law
14th District lawmaker, Yakima families attend bill signing in Olympia
Editor's Note: Photo
attached of Rep. Ross with the
Aguilar and Trevino-Mendoza families and Gov. Gregoire as she signed the
eluding bill.
Rep. Charles Ross,
along with the Aguilar and Mendoza families, traveled to Olympia today
where they
witnessed Gov. Gregoire sign the Guillermo ‘Bobby’ Aguilar and Edgar F.
Trevino-Mendoza Public Safety Act of 2008 into law.
Under the new felony eluding law co-sponsored by Ross, drivers who
run from the police and are
proven to have put the public in danger would spend at least a year and
a day in jail. Currently, someone could elude police twice without
getting any jail time. Without a felony charge, eluders could run from
police up to six times without receiving time in prison.
"I'm so proud to have
worked this legislation through the process," said Ross, R-Naches. "With
this bill, drivers who run from the police won't get away with putting
other people's lives in danger."
House Bill 1030 was named after the two young men from Yakima, who were
killed when someone eluding the police hit their vehicle. Both men
would have turned 21 this year. The suspect is in jail awaiting an April
trial date.
"This law is real justice
for these families, but it doesn't bring Bobby and Edgar back to them,"
Ross said. "It is important to our community for what happened in the
past, but it's also about keeping our communities safer in the future."
The law
goes into effect June 12, 2008.
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For more information, contact:
Sarah Lamb, Public Information
Officer - (360) 786-7720
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