Cape Coral man sentenced to five years for fleeing from a police officer

Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published:
Christopher Manning, 40. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office

A Cape Coral man was sentenced Tuesday evening to five years in prison for fleeing from law enforcement and driving without a license.

According to state attorney documents, Christopher Ryan Manning, 40, was found guilty as charged of fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer with lights and sirens and driving with no driver’s license. The jury returned the guilty verdict after a one-day trial in Lee County. He was immediately sentenced to five years in prison on the first count one and 60 days in the Lee County Jail on the second, to run concurrently.

On July 18, a Cape Coral police officer in a marked patrol car reported seeing a Chevy Equinox exit a convenience store parking lot without stopping at the stop sign. The vehicle then began driving north in a southbound lane, in the direction of oncoming traffic. The officer turned on emergency overhead lights and sirens. The officer then noticed the vehicle did not have a visible license plate attached.

The car went through another stop sign without stopping and crossed over a median to begin driving north in the correct lanes. The vehicle then sped up to 45 mph in a 35 mph zone, as the driver threw a cigarette butt out the window toward the patrol vehicle. The vehicle continued to speed then turned a corner and stopped. Manning was the only person in the car.

He initially refused to cooperate with the officer. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Manning knew he had no driver’s license and was illegally driving the unregistered vehicle. He was arrested at the scene and the car was towed.

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