Penalties for Impersonating a Police Officer

he will race this weekend hes got plenty of money to bail out

Sounds like he was just playing with the lights on his truck to blitz through traffic....and messed with a couple off duty cops.
It happened near the airport...maybe Jehrrod was running late for a flight back to Cali.
With a good lawyer ,he will prolly get some fines & maybe probation,if he is found or pleads guilty.
It's not like he was walking around and flashing a gun & badge and trying to arrest people.

Slap on the wrist at most.

Fleeing the scene is likely to be just as big of a hurdle for James.

O'Geesh
I can see the tabloids now.
"Police chase - Officer catches the fastest man on the planet. "

Impersonating an officer with a home invasion = long time in jail

Impersonating an officer with some red and blue lights in a tundra ? hell he might pick some trash up or work at a food bank for a week....

That was some pretty dumb ass shit to do though. I bet his dad is going to smack him up side the head for that stunt

The charge will be reduced to improper use of emergency lights or unauthorized possession of emergency lights. He'll get a thousand dollar fine, six months suspended probation and that will be the extent of it. Wait and see. It's nit a big deal at all.

In a related story I saw a CNN report a few days ago where there is a new I-phone app that makes the screen flash blue and red like lights and that people had been arrested for putting it on the dashboard.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/27241202/detail.html

I actually had an app like that on my Android the first day I had it. iPhone must be behind the times.

I don't see how it's impersonating an officer unless he flashed a badge. If it was just lights wouldn't it just be impersonating an emergency vehicle? Don't tell me he flashed a badge. I think he should be able to get out of major trouble pretty easily.

In Florida red and blue lights are only on police vehicles so if that is the color he had that may be the 'impersonating an officer' angle. Ambulance/fire vehicles have red or yellow lights here.

Well again, wouldn't it be impersonating an officer's "car" and not impersonating an "officer"? I would think you would have to flash a badge for a severe penalty, but I could be wrong. If I was a betting man I would bet that he spends no time in jail and at worst get a misdemeanor, probably nothing more than probation.

This is most likely what will happen, if the DA even decides to pursue the charges

i've done way worse

316.2397 Certain lights prohibited; exceptions.—(1) No person shall drive or move or cause to be moved any vehicle or equipment upon any highway within this state with any lamp or device thereon showing or displaying a red or blue light visible from directly in front thereof except for certain vehicles hereinafter provided.
(2) It is expressly prohibited for any vehicle or equipment, except police vehicles, to show or display blue lights. However, vehicles owned, operated, or leased by the Department of Corrections or any county correctional agency may show or display blue lights when responding to emergencies.
(3) Vehicles of the fire department and fire patrol, including vehicles of volunteer firefighters as permitted under s. 316.2398, vehicles of medical staff physicians or technicians of medical facilities licensed by the state as authorized under s. 316.2398, ambulances as authorized under this chapter, and buses and taxicabs as authorized under s. 316.2399 are permitted to show or display red lights. Vehicles of the fire department, fire patrol, police vehicles, and such ambulances and emergency vehicles of municipal and county departments, public service corporations operated by private corporations, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of Corrections as are designated or authorized by their respective department or the chief of police of an incorporated city or any sheriff of any county are hereby authorized to operate emergency lights and sirens in an emergency. Wreckers, mosquito control fog and spray vehicles, and emergency vehicles of governmental departments or public service corporations may show or display amber lights when in actual operation or when a hazard exists provided they are not used going to and from the scene of operation or hazard without specific authorization of a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency. Wreckers must use amber rotating or flashing lights while performing recoveries and loading on the roadside day or night, and may use such lights while towing a vehicle on wheel lifts, slings, or under reach if the operator of the wrecker deems such lights necessary. A flatbed, car carrier, or rollback may not use amber rotating or flashing lights when hauling a vehicle on the bed unless it creates a hazard to other motorists because of protruding objects. Further, escort vehicles may show or display amber lights when in the actual process of escorting overdimensioned equipment, material, or buildings as authorized by law. Vehicles owned or leased by private security agencies may show or display green and amber lights, with either color being no greater than 50 percent of the lights displayed, while the security personnel are engaged in security duties on private or public property.
(4) Road or street maintenance equipment, road or street maintenance vehicles, road service vehicles, refuse collection vehicles, petroleum tankers, and mail carrier vehicles may show or display amber lights when in operation or a hazard exists.
(5) Road maintenance and construction equipment and vehicles may display flashing white lights or flashing white strobe lights when in operation and where a hazard exists. Additionally, school buses and vehicles that are used to transport farm workers may display flashing white strobe lights.
(6) All lighting equipment heretofore referred to shall meet all requirements as set forth in s. 316.241.
(7) Flashing lights are prohibited on vehicles except as a means of indicating a right or left turn, to change lanes, or to indicate that the vehicle is lawfully stopped or disabled upon the highway or except that the lamps authorized in subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), and (9) and s. 316.235(5) are permitted to flash.
(8) Subsections (1) and (7) do not apply to police, fire, or authorized emergency vehicles while in the performance of their necessary duties.
(9) Flashing red lights may be used by emergency response vehicles of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health when responding to an emergency in the line of duty.
(10) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318.

Slap on the wrist, if that. Pays to be a superstar in this country

If this is true (not sure), was he filming for his reality television show?

Peelout you gotta admit this is something we would have got busted for in our early twenties

I like James but this is the best story EVER!!!

Me and some buddies did it on our way to a race when I was 16, the trick is don't get caught

Same here bud. Thank god we never got caught.

that sir is a GOOD ONE!

Keep in mind, if he is convicted, he will not be allowed back in to Canada next year.

Yes, he can post bail, but I doubt he is allowed to leave Florida until his trial.

You can usually leave the state before trial unless it is otherwise stated in your bail conditions. I would hope that James contacted his lawyer immediately and had him take care of all of these details.

Man, that would be BAD NEWS!

I've got a friend who can't go into Canada due to a D.U.I.

I've been to Canada once. How do I get one of those things?, so it never has to happen again!

Best excuse to drop that silly out-of-country venue.
I heard Syracuse might be available!

something tells me ,no canada race next yr. if stewart cant compete?