EVADING POLICE RESULTS IN 55 YEARS FOR LOCAL MAN

After deliberating for 48 minutes a jury of six men and six women found Moses Torres, a Palestine resident, guilty of evading arrest/detention with a vehicle, with previous convictions, sentencing him to 55 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division. District Judge Bascom W. Bentley III presided over the case.

According to police reports, in the early hours of September 8, 2010 Mr. Torres fled in his vehicle after Palestine Police Officer Mark Harcrow attempted to stop Torres for a minor transportation code violation. Mr. Torres proceeded to run though multiple stop signs in an attempt to avoid capture. Following a chase that spanned a distance of four tenths of a mile the vehicle eventually came to a stop.

According to Officer Harcrow, the driver began “frantically pulling on the door handle” in an attempt to proceed on foot but was unable to open the door. Mr. Torres was detained, identified, and placed under arrest for evading arrest/detention with a vehicle at that time.

After hearing testimony from officer Harcrow and viewing video from the officer’s in-car dash camera the jury returned a verdict of guilty and sentenced Mr. Torres to 55 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division.

The typical range of punishment for a felony evading arrest with a vehicle charge is 180 days to 2 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice State Jail Division. However, because Mr. Torres had several previous conviction of evading arrest the charge was enhanced to a third degree offense with a range of punishment of 2 to 10. The range of punishment was further enhanced to 25 to 99 years or life because of Torres' multiple prior felony convictions. 

Stanley Sokolowski, first assistant district attorney, represented the State of Texas.

Local attorney Bill House represented the defendant.