FHP Active Calls – Hit and Run

If you were involved in a “hit and run” in Hillsborough County, Polk County, Pasco County, or Hernando County, FL, then your case might be investigated by law enforcement officers in Troup C of the Florida Highway Patrol.

Information about the hit-and-run investigation can be found on FHP’s Live Traffic Feed for reports on crashes and road conditions. The interactive map allows you to select a county or troop, and view a list of incidents categorized by indecent type, dispatch time, arrival time, county, location, and remarks.

The FHP website also maintains a list of FHP active calls, many of which involve hit-and-run investigations after a person leaves the scene of a crash. The website also provides information about the most recent hit-and-run cases that remain unsolved.

Attorneys for Hit and Run Cases with Florida Highway Patrol

Call an attorney at Sammis Law Firm to discuss an active “hit and run” investigation either before or after an arrest is made. Never make a statement to any law enforcement officer after a criminal investigation begins for leaving the scene of a crash. Instead, seek out the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney.

Charges can include “leaving the scene of a crash” involving either attended or unattended property (sometimes called “failure to remain”). More serious felony charges occur if you left the scene of a crash involving personal injury, serious bodily injury, or death.

The criminal defense attorneys in Tampa, FL, at the Sammis Law Firm are experienced in representing clients in both misdemeanor and felony “hit and run” cases under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol, Troop C, and other local law enforcement agencies.

Call 813-250-0500 today to discuss your case.

FHP Hit and Run Investigations in Hillsborough County, FL

The Florida Highway Patrol website publishes information about pending and active investigations for hit-and-run under investigation. The Florida Highway Patrol, Troop C, Troop C is divided into four districts.

• District I encompasses Hillsborough County
• District II covers Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, and Sumter counties
• District III oversees Patrol Operations for Pinellas County and Troop C Special Operations

Special Operations is responsible for all special details throughout the entire Troop C area including:

• Traffic Homicide Investigations within the Hillsborough and Pinellas county areas
• Operations and the Contraband Interdiction Operations
• Troops Public Information Office
• the Office of Recruiting and Employment Selection

District IV is responsible for the Troop supply and equipment management, and for patrol operations in Polk County.

Statutory Authority of the Florida Highway Patrol

The powers and duties of the Florida Highway Patrol are established in Chapter 321 of the Florida Statutes. Section 321.05 explains the duties, functions, and powers of patrol officers in Florida. The statute provides, in part:

The members of the Florida Highway Patrol are hereby declared to be conservators of the peace and law enforcement officers of the state, with the common-law right to arrest a person who, in the presence of the arresting officer, commits a felony or commits an affray or breach of the peace constituting a misdemeanor, with full power to bear arms; and they shall apprehend, without warrant, any person in the unlawful commission of any of the acts over which the members of the Florida Highway Patrol are given jurisdiction as hereinafter set out and deliver him or her to the sheriff of the county that further proceedings may be had against him or her according to law.

In the performance of any of the powers, duties, and functions authorized by law, members of the Florida Highway Patrol have the same protections and immunities afforded other peace officers, which shall be recognized by all courts having jurisdiction over offenses against the laws of this state, and have authority to apply for, serve, and execute search warrants, arrest warrants, capias, and other process of the court….

The following types of duties, functions, and powers given to patrol officers under the direction and supervision of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) are listed in Section 321.05(1)-(3):

• to maintain public peace by preventing violence on highways;
• to patrol the state highways and regulate, control, and direct the movement of traffic thereon;
• to make an arrest of a person wanted for a felony or against whom a warrant has been issued on any charge in violation of federal, state, or county laws or municipal ordinances;
• to make arrests while in fresh pursuit of a person believed to have violated the traffic and other laws;
• to assist other constituted law enforcement officers of the state to quell mobs and riots, guard prisoners, and police disaster areas;
• to investigate reported thefts of vehicles and to seize contraband or stolen property on or being transported on the highways;
• to enforce laws governing the operation, licensing, and taxing and limiting the size, weight, width, length, and speed of vehicles and licensing and controlling the operations of drivers and operators of vehicles; to cooperate with officials designated by law to collect all state fees and revenues levied as an incident to the use or right to use the highways for any purpose; to require the drivers of vehicles to stop and exhibit their driver’s licenses, registration cards, or documents required by law to be carried by such vehicles;
• to investigate traffic accidents, secure testimony of witnesses and of persons involved, and make report thereof with copy, when requested in writing, to any person in interest or his or her attorney;
• to make arrests without a warrant for the violation of any state law committed in their presence in accordance with the laws of this state; providing that no search shall be made unless it is incident to a lawful arrest, to regulate and direct traffic concentrations and congestion;
• to apprehend fugitives from justice; to enforce all laws now in effect regulating and governing traffic, travel, and public safety upon the public highways and providing for the protection of the public highways and public property thereon;

Section 321.05 explains the jurisdiction of FHP as follows:

Each patrol officer of the Florida Highway Patrol is subject to and has the same arrest and other authority provided for law enforcement officers generally in chapter 901 and has statewide jurisdiction. Each officer also has arrest authority as provided for state law enforcement officers in s. 901.15. This section shall not be construed as being in conflict with, but is supplemental to, chapter 933.

Read more about hit and run accidents in Hillsborough County, FL.