Man Dialed 911 During Pursuit, Still Guilty

A Wisconsin man who fled a traffic stop after allegedly being beaten by an officer is still guilty of eluding under state law, even though he claimed to be heading to police headquarters to file a report. Daniel Hanson was stopped by a Kenosha County sheriff’s deputy in 2007 for speeding on I-94. Hanson immediately got out of his car and was agitated, the deputy later testified. Hanson refused to get back inside his car as instructed by the deputy, so the deputy removed his baton from the belt loop. Hanson then complied but again exited the car as the deputy wrote the ticket. At that point the deputy radioed for backup and told Hanson he was under arrest. Hanson ran to his car and drove off. Eventually deputies boxed-in Hanson’s car, broke a window and arrested him. Hanson’s testimony was almost entirely opposite, saying the deputy was the person who was agitated, and who struck him on the neck with the baton. Both parties agree that Hanson dialed 911 immediately upon leaving the scene, telling a dispatcher that he’d been beaten, and that he was driving to a police station because he was scared for his life. A jury found him guilty of eluding, and Hanson appealed. He claimed that, “he cannot be fleeing and eluding police if he calls 911 and tells the police where he is going.” But the state Appellate Court ruled the destination was irrelevant. The 911 logging tape proved that Hanson could hear the deputies’ sirens, the court noted. Hanson’s objection that the jury hearing the unedited logging tape was also turned down by the court. The panel said the jury had been told to disregard certain dispatcher statements, such as, “You’re violating the law” and “You’re endangering other cars.” Download (pdf) the full court decision here.