Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, R-Queensbury, is pictured on the Assembly floor during this year’s legislative session.

Running from a police officer isn’t guaranteed to result in an immediate trip to a judge for arraignment and assignment of bail.

A state lawmaker wants to change that.

Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, R-Queensbury, recently introduced legislation (A.10661) that would amend the state Penal Law and state Criminal Procedure Law to increase the designation of some offenses related to unlawfully fleeing a police officer so they are eligible for bail.

There have been a few police chases in Chautauqua County in recent weeks, though in many of those cases the drivers have been taken to the Chautauqua County Jail to be arraigned and face bail because of other charges they also face. On July 28, Jamestown Police Department officers were led on a chase after trying to pull a vehicle over for traffic infractions. The pursuit lasted an extended period of time, according to a police report, with the driver allegedly nearly hitting multiple police officers with his vehicle. The pursuit ended when Nicholas C. Brown, 34, of Jamestown struck a marked New York State Trooper vehicle, an unrelated parked vehicle and then a marked Jamestown patrol vehicle head on.

Brown was taken to the county jail without bail due to his prior criminal history.

Simpson said that doesn’t always happen, citing an incident in 2019 involving a person fleeing from a state trooper after allegedly speeding through a work zone on Interstate 87. That chase lasted 28 miles, and when the vehicle got off the highway it struck another vehicle. The crash killed the other driver.

Simpson wants to reclassify the charges of third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer as a class E felony, second-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer as a class D felony and first-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer as a class C felony. Corresponding changes in the Criminal Procedure Law would then make those charges eligible for a judge to set bail.

“Data collected from the New York State Police and New York State Sheriff’s Association indicates that in the previous six years, the number of police pursuits have increased annually. For the period 2 018-2019 the average number of pursuits per year was 440 and for the years 2020-2021 the average number of pursuits per year was approximately 770,” Simpson wrote in his legislative justification. “The average number of pursuits per year for 2022-2023 was 835. These pursuits often result in property damage, personal injury and occasionally are fatal. Making each of these offenses eligible for bail will allow judges to remand the defendants that are creating a public safety hazard by failing to comply with the lawful actions of police officers when executing a traffic stop.”

Simpson’s bill could be discussed by state lawmakers when the state legislative session begins in January.