Vehicular Invasion – What You Need To Know
Vehicular invasion sounds like something out of a movie, right? Like when the bad guys drive a car through a storefront window or something. But it’s an actual law in Illinois that carries some pretty serious penalties if you’re convicted. Let’s break it down so you know what’s what if you ever find yourself facing charges.
What Exactly Is Vehicular Invasion?
The law defines vehicular invasion as intentionally or knowingly driving a motor vehicle into, upon, or against any:
- Building
- House trailer
- Inhabited camper
- Vessel
- Watercraft
So basically if you use a car or truck to ram into someone’s home, RV, boat, etc., you could be looking at a vehicular invasion charge.
Why Is It Illegal?
Well duh, who wants someone smashing into their house or camper? Vehicular invasion is considered a type of criminal trespass. The law sees it as violating the occupant’s right to feel safe and secure in their own property.
No one wants to worry that a car might come crashing through their living room wall as they’re eating dinner, right? That’s why the Illinois legislature felt this needed to be specifically called out as illegal.
What Are The Penalties?
A conviction for vehicular invasion can land you in prison for anywhere from one to five years. And you could get slapped with a fine of up to $25,000.So we’re talking felony charges here, not just a slap on the wrist. Ramming a vehicle into someone’s home or boat on purpose is seen as a serious offense.
The penalties get even stiffer if anyone inside the building, trailer, camper, vessel, etc. gets hurt or killed as a result of the vehicular invasion.
In that case, you could be looking at an extended prison sentence of up to 15 years. And the fine can go as high as $100,000.So TLDR: Don’t use your car as a battering ram unless you want to spend some serious time behind bars.
What Are Some Defenses?
Okay, so maybe you find yourself accused of vehicular invasion but you think there’s a valid reason why you shouldn’t be convicted. What are some potential defenses you could try to raise?
Lack of Intent
One defense is arguing that you didn’t intentionally or knowingly drive into the building or vehicle. For example, maybe you lost control of your car and accidentally crashed into someone’s house.
As long as the prosecution can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you intended to commit vehicular invasion, this defense might get you off the hook.
Self-Defense
Let’s say you drove your truck into someone’s house because they were shooting at you from inside and it was the only way to protect yourself from imminent harm. That could potentially be justified as self-defense.
Of course you’d need strong evidence to back up your claim that you had no other choice but to drive into the building for your own safety.
Insanity
It’s possible you could try for an insanity defense by arguing that you were so mentally ill or detached from reality when you committed vehicular invasion that you didn’t understand it was wrong.
But the bar is very high here in terms of proving you weren’t in your right mind at the time. It rarely succeeds as a defense.
Duress
If you can show you were forced or coerced into driving into the building or vehicle under threat of immediate bodily harm, you may be able to claim duress.
This is another tough one to prove, but could potentially get the charges dropped if you have solid evidence you acted under extreme duress.
What About Civil Liability?
Even if you manage to beat criminal charges of vehicular invasion, you almost certainly won’t get off scot free. There’s also the matter of civil liability for any damage you cause.
The owner(s) of the building, trailer, camper, boat, etc. that you damaged have every right to sue you for compensation in civil court.
And your auto insurance policy almost certainly won’t cover damage caused by an intentional criminal act like vehicular invasion. So you could be on the hook for some hefty out-of-pocket costs.
Not to mention you’ll now have a very angry property owner who you damaged coming after you in court for money. No fun.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t intentionally drive your car or truck into someone else’s home, RV, boat, etc. unless you want felony charges.
- Claiming it was an accident, self-defense, insanity, or duress are really the only ways to fight vehicular invasion charges.
- Even if you avoid jail time, you could still get slapped with a massive civil lawsuit by the property owner you damaged.
- Seriously, find a healthier outlet for your anger than vehicular destruction. It’s just not worth it.
So in summary, steer clear of using your vehicle as a battering ram unless you want your life to take a very bad turn. We good? Cool, drive safe out there folks.