KHOU’s Jeremy Rogalski reviewed three years of disposed felony evading cases from January 2017 to January 2020.
In total, he found 1,414 cases. Of those, he reports:
“...court records show that in 684 cases, 48 percent resulted in prison time. The average sentence was 3.5 years.
The rest of the time, those who sped away got off with no prison time. Over the past three years, 730 cases, or 52 percent, ended with probation.”
He then gives examples of past chases they covered and the punishment the offender received:
"In March 2018, Eric Anton Brown led police on a more than hour-long chase through Baytown and east Houston in rush hour traffic. Police eventually pinned his fleeing SUV on Highway 288 using a PIT maneuver to cause Brown to lose control. Months later, he received three years' deferred adjudication, a form of probation.
In May 2018, Luis Arias refused to stop and wound up hitting three cars during the chase. Six innocent people were sent to the hospital. Arias was not only charged with felony evading, but aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. He received two years’ probation on all counts charged.
Our analysis of court records also revealed 972 felony evading charges were dismissed. However, those included cases that were later refiled or dismissed because the defendant was convicted on another charge."
Houston Police Officers’ Union says the reason we have so many felony evading cases here is because the criminals know that “they're likely to get a dismissal or probation”.