The state Senate approved a bill this week that would make it a crime for someone to flee on foot a law enforcement officer who is trying to arrest them.

Under the proposal, violators fleeing for an underlying offense would face a third-degree felony if another person suffers serious bodily injury and a second-degree felony if someone dies as a result of the violation.

The bill also would create a third-degree felony offense for cases where a police animal dies or suffers serious bodily injury and a second-degree misdemeanor if the animal suffers injury as a result of the violation.

Existing statutes prohibit fleeing police by vehicle.

The bill is named after John Wilding, a Scranton police officer who died of a head injury in 2015 after jumping a fence and falling in pursuit of three 17-year-olds suspected of stealing a sport utility vehicle and attempting to rob a pedestrian at gunpoint.

The severity of the penalty for knowingly fleeing arrest rises based on the seriousness of the underlying crime.

The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. John Yudichak, I-14th, who said the bill addresses “a serious deficiency” in Pennsylvania law that prevents district attorneys from charging suspects who put officers, police animals, and the public at “serious risk of bodily injury or death by willfully evading police.”

Not surprisingly, police groups support the legislation, and backers said it would protect officers who often follow pursuits into life-threatening situations or suffer horrendous injuries in the process.

Also not surprisingly, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania said the bill creates duplicative and unnecessary crimes and criminalizes the “legal and constitutional right to run from law enforcement.”

The legislation now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration. Gov. Tom Wolf has not said whether he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

We urge approval of the bill by the House and the governor.

The job of a law enforcement officer is a tough one, and they need any protection we can give them to stay safe on the the street.

— JGG