08/30/2024
Valentine’s Law goes into effect Wednesday, increasing penalties for fleeing from police
By Hannah Falcon
Published: Aug. 28, 2024 at 5:35 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - During a high-speed chase in St. Louis County, Detective Antonio Valentine lost his life. A law was enacted three years later to prevent any other officer from meeting that same fate.
Valentine’s Law creates a new offense called “aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle.” It makes it a felony to drive away from a police officer trying to pull you over. If someone knows a law enforcement officer is trying to pull them over and they drive away anyway, creating a risk of injury, it is at least a Class D felony. It increases to a Class B felony if someone is hurt and a Class A felony if someone dies because of the person fleeing.
Punishments for these felonies range from up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine to a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Valentine’s Law, along with many other new laws, became enforceable in Missouri on Wednesday. It’s part of an expansive crime reform bill that also includes measures to increase the punishment for hurting a police animal and criminalize reckless gunfire within city limits.
Under Valentine’s Law, it is not a defense if the person believes law enforcement was unlawful in pulling them over. As long as the officer lights are flashing, it is considered fleeing.
Rep. Justin Sparks is one of the sponsors of the new law. The St. Louis County Republican and former police officer responded to the scene when Valentine died.
“It’s just a shame that it had to take an officer losing his life in the line of duty to do what is, frankly, common sense,” Sparks said. “This is, this is common sense. This measure, this law should have already been in place,”
Valentine’s Law received bipartisan support in the Missouri legislature this year.
But there are some amendments Democratic lawmakers wanted to add that didn’t make it in this year. Kansas City Democrat Mark Sharp hopes to clarify the law next year to allow people to look around for a safe place to pull over without being penalized.
“We don’t want folks or this bill to be interpreted to where, if you’re just trying to find a safe place to pull over, you’re fleeing from the police,” Sharp said. “We know there’s a lot of younger individuals or even women or people of color, that just want to find a safe place to pull over at.”
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