{"id":162600,"date":"2025-11-08T06:34:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T14:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=162600"},"modified":"2026-09-17T06:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:17:03","slug":"towing-a-fleeing-suspects-car-from-a-driveway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=162600","title":{"rendered":"Towing a Fleeing Suspect\u2019s Car From a Driveway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Bandiero<\/a><\/strong>
\nAttorney and Senior Legal Instructor, Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training<\/p>\n

A question from Illinois, where aggravated fleeing is a class 4 felony and the statute says the vehicle used is subject to seizure and forfeiture. Officers keep finding the car later, parked in the registered owner’s driveway, and nobody answers the door. Can they tow it off the driveway?<\/em><\/p>\n

Hello everyone, it’s Anthony Bandiero here, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training, bringing you the roadside chat.<\/p>\n

All right, we’re going to talk about a question from Illinois. In Illinois, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer is a class 4 felony. It also states in the statute that the motor vehicle used in a violation of the section is subject to seizure and forfeiture. That’s a big deal.<\/p>\n

There’s obviously other things going on about whether or not you can truly, you know, if a guy in a 2024 Corvette flees from you, can you forfeit that vehicle? Probably not with those facts. It has to be equitable, and taking the guy’s $100,000 Corvette may not be equitable for the crime. Regardless, forfeiture procedures are outside the scope of this conversation.<\/p>\n

Now the officer goes on to say: many police departments, including mine, do not seize or tow the vehicle that was used in the commission of this crime if it is later located parked. In other words, if we can get them moving, we’re good. In some situations the vehicle is located in the driveway of the registered owner. We attempt to make contact with the registered owner and many times they refuse to answer the door to speak with us. Can we tow the vehicle off the driveway for evidence? Does it change if it’s parked illegally on the street?<\/p>\n

Does the forfeiture statute let you seize the car at all?<\/h2>\n

First of all, I understand that some agencies don’t want to tow the vehicle. The way I read the statute, I see no prohibition on that. It doesn’t seem unlawful. It’s still a statutory penalty that is being issued here against this driver, that it can be seized. It’s kind of like a punishment for a felony eluding.<\/p>\n

So the fact that the car is still not moving, I don’t think is relevant. I think the fact is, do you have probable cause<\/a> that that vehicle was used in this crime? If the answer is yes, the statute says that it’s subject to seizure and forfeiture. Again, it’s a penalty in a sense, to take their car, and maybe even as a piece of evidence. But also forfeiture implies that it’s going to be a civil forfeiture because of the person’s conduct.<\/p>\n

Why does Collins v. Virginia block a tow from the driveway?<\/h2>\n

Now however, if the car is found in a driveway, I do not suggest that you tow it. Because you would need exigency in addition to the statutory authority.<\/p>\n

We kind of get this idea from Collins v. Virginia, where the Supreme Court held that the motor vehicle exception<\/a> did not apply to a stolen motorcycle that was parked in a carport.<\/p>\n

Isn’t the car seizable in plain view if the driveway is the path to the door?<\/h2>\n

Now I know that we can have a good healthy debate about, hey, the driveway is not really the carport, because the carport, depending on how the house is set up, maybe we’re not supposed to even be near the carport. The driveway is part of the path up to the front door. And if it’s part of the path to the front door, then isn’t the car seizable under plain view<\/a>?<\/p>\n

I think that’s a great argument. It’s not frivolous. We have people that teach for Blue to Gold here that make a very powerful argument that that is applicable.<\/p>\n

However, I’m going to tell you that at the end of the day, I don’t think it works. I don’t think it works because this is not your typical plain view seizure issue, where you just kind of grab and go if you’re lawfully present.<\/p>\n

The problem I have with this is that in most situations, what’s actually going to happen is, if this is allowed to happen, the cop is going to go up to the door, knock on the door, he’s going to walk by the car, probably get the VIN, he’s going to go to his black and white, his patrol car, he’s going to call for a tow truck. Billy Bob the tow truck driver is going to take about 30 minutes to get there, on a good day. Then Billy Bob is going to re-enter the person’s curtilage. If it’s curtilage. This does not apply to apartments, does not apply to shared driveways. But Billy Bob the tow truck driver is going to probably enter the guy’s curtilage and hook up his car and yank it.<\/p>\n

And I got to say, I don’t know where the government gets the authority to later re-enter the guy’s curtilage, especially with some random non-sworn person, no agency, and rip his car from his driveway. Where does the government get that authority?<\/p>\n

What does the red jumpsuit example show about re-entering curtilage?<\/h2>\n

It would be no different than going up to the door, knock on the door, let’s say for a knock and talk<\/a>. You look behind you and you see evidence in plain view, and you could grab it and go, but you don’t want to. You want to call the detectives.<\/p>\n

So you get to your black and white, you call detectives. Hey, didn’t this robbery suspect, let’s say it’s a robbery suspect and you’re doing a knock and talk, hey, didn’t the robbery suspect have like a red Adidas jumpsuit? He sure did. Hey man, there’s a red Adidas jumpsuit right on the bench in front of his house, right next to his door. Why don’t you come by the house and grab it?<\/p>\n

And the cop a half an hour later goes up to his door. No knock and talk. They just want to grab the red Adidas jumpsuit, take it and go.<\/p>\n

I believe that the better argument there is that that’s an illegal seizure of the evidence off the guy’s curtilage, because the cop is not lawfully present. He already lost the right to be on the curtilage by leaving. And then the cop re-entering would not be justified in re-entering that curtilage just to seize evidence under these facts, without some form of exigency, or consent, or of course a warrant.<\/p>\n

What is the worst case if you get this wrong?<\/h2>\n

So I wouldn’t do it. And you’re like, Anthony, fine, what’s the worst that’s going to happen?<\/p>\n

Well, how about a dead body in the trunk? If you don’t think that can happen, ask the cops in North Dakota about it, where they illegally seized a car and found a female that was raped and killed in the trunk. And the North Dakota Supreme Court, and we’re talking about North Dakota here, we’re not talking about Illinois who is trying to decriminalize crime, we’re talking about North Dakota, that’s pretty squared away on their crime control, and they’re saying evidence suppressed because the cops violated the Constitution.<\/p>\n

What if the car is parked on the street instead?<\/h2>\n

So at the end of the day I wouldn’t do it. If the car’s in the street though, I would do it. Or at least, I’m not telling you to do it, because you have to listen to your agency. If they don’t want to tow it, they don’t want to tow it.<\/p>\n

But if I was the chief of an agency in Illinois and my cops asked me, hey, if we find that suspect’s vehicle on the street, can we tow it, the answer would be yes. And by the way, I would personally do it, because that’s part of justice. We can’t chase a lot of people these days. So when we actually get lucky enough to find them later and we have access to their car, like on the street, in a parking lot and so forth, I think part of learning your lesson to not run from police is getting your car seized and potentially forfeited by the government.<\/p>\n

The short version<\/h2>\n