Drivers in Pinellas County who flee from deputies will now have their vehicles seized from them following a recent spike in deaths from police pursuit-related crashes, according to the sheriff's office. "It's getting more and more frequent, and it's got to stop," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Gualtieri says starting Tuesday, the agency may now seize and forfeit a vehicle that flees from deputies during a stop, in accordance with the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Gualtieri shared crash data from the National Highway Safety Institute that states deadly crashes from police pursuits kill on average one person a day in the U.S. Other data he shared also shows police pursuit-related deaths made a 40% increase between 2019 and 2022 in the country. In Pinellas County, the sheriff reported that there have been 1,042 cases of fleeing and alluding from deputies when someone has been stopped. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/pinellas-county-seize-vehicles-flee-from-officers/67-ef5b051d-84d7-4c08-ab67-aba2342c9158 ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/10TampaBay ►X: https://twitter.com/10TampaBay