People v. Walker CA4/3

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the night of September 15, 2023, Anaheim Police Sergeant Kevin Flanagan received a dispatch about a suspected armed robbery at a restaurant on Harbor Boulevard. As he was driving to the scene in his marked patrol car, Flanagan spotted a black Mercedes sedan that was reportedly involved in the robbery. Flanagan activated his siren and overhead lights and began pursuing the Mercedes on the I-5 freeway. At that time, Flanagan was roughly 60 to 90 feet behind the Mercedes, and a police helicopter was tracking it from the sky. With Flanagan on its tail, the Mercedes rapidly accelerated to about 90 miles per hour and made its way into the emergency lane on the left side of the freeway. Using that lane, the Mercedes was able to bypass a congested area of traffic, where cars were stopped due to an unrelated accident. Flanagan was able to keep up for a brief time after that, but when

1 In addition to evading the police, Walker was also charged with

two counts of robbery and one count of possessing a concealed firearm in a vehicle. However, he was acquitted of the robbery counts, and the firearm charge was dismissed at the prosecution’s request. Therefore, our…