Florida law already classifies the black Corvette that troopers say left Interstate 275 at about 130 mph near Wesley Chapel. Under section 316.1935(7) of the state’s fleeing statute, any vehicle used in a fleeing violation “is deemed to be contraband,” and law enforcement may seize it for forfeiture.
The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Yaseen Algmaiee, 19, of Zephyrhills shortly after midnight on Sunday, Oct. 11, on charges of aggravated fleeing to elude and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage. Those charges come from his FHP arrest affidavit as reported by WTVT and WFTS, and Miami’s WSVN carried the same charges a day later. He is presumed innocent. We laid out the pursuit itself, from mile marker 47 to the PIT on State Road 56, on Oct. 16.
Nothing released since then says whether FHP kept the Corvette, whose name is on its title or what model year it is. Under Florida’s forfeiture law, the title question decides whether the state can keep the car at all.
Whose name is on the title
The Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act allows a seizure only if the owner is arrested for the crime that makes the property contraband, according to section 932.703(1)(a). If Algmaiee holds the title, his arrest satisfies that…