You were being arrested. You pulled your arm back. Maybe you tensed up, or asked why this was happening, or stiffened when the cuffs came out. Now you’re facing a resisting arrest charge on top of whatever they stopped you for in the first place.
Here’s what most Philadelphia defendants don’t understand: resisting arrest under Pennsylvania law does not require you to punch, kick, or injure anyone. It doesn’t even require the officer to get hurt. And a 2025 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision just made these charges significantly harder to beat.
I spent over ten years in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, including in the homicide unit, and I’ve tried more than 400 jury trials. I know why officers add this charge and what prosecutors do with it once it’s filed. This article explains what the statute actually says, why you were charged, and how these cases get taken apart.
What You’ll Learn
- What resisting arrest means under Pennsylvania law
- The real reasons this charge gets added to your case
- How to tell whether your charge is weak or serious
- Defense strategies that work in Philadelphia courts
- Why a former prosecutor changes the outcome
- Frequently asked questions
- What to do next
What Is Resisting Arrest in Pennsylvania?
Resisting arrest is defined at 18 Pa.C.S. § 5104. A person commits a second-degree misdemeanor if, with the intent of preventing a public servant from effecting a lawful arrest or discharging any other duty, the person creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the public servant or anyone else, or employs means justifying or requiring substantial force to overcome the resistance.
Read that again. There are two separate ways to commit this crime, and the Commonwealth only has to prove one of them.
The first requires a substantial risk of injury. The second requires nothing more than resistance that forced officers to use substantial force. No injury. No swing thrown. Just a struggle serious enough that officers had to physically overcome you.
A conviction is a misdemeanor of the second degree, carrying up to two years in jail and fines up to $5,000. That penalty stacks on top of whatever you were originally arrested for. And because it’s an M2, the case is heard in Philadelphia Municipal Court — where there is no right to a preliminary hearing, but a guilty verdict carries an absolute right to appeal for a completely new trial in the Court of Common Pleas.
Most Philadelphia defendants facing this charge were never accused of hitting anyone. That surprises people. It shouldn’t.
The Real Causes: Why You’re Facing This Charge
Cause #1: The Statute Is Written Broadly on Purpose
When I was prosecuting in Philadelphia, § 5104 was one of the most flexible tools available. The second variant — the “substantial force” clause — doesn’t require harm to anyone. It asks whether your resistance made officers work.
Under that variant, the Commonwealth must show three things: intent to prevent a lawful arrest, means that justified or required force by police, and that the force was substantial. Pulling away hard enough that two officers had to take you to the ground can satisfy every element.
Cause #2: The 2025 Crosby Decision Removed a Key Defense
For years, defense attorneys argued that a brief physical struggle was just a “minor scuffle” and fell below the statute’s threshold. That argument is largely gone.
In Commonwealth v. Crosby, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed a resisting arrest conviction and overruled the “minor scuffle” exception. The Court held that what qualifies as substantial force depends on context — officer strength, the arrestee’s size, the environment — and that these are questions for factfinders rather than appellate second-guessing. In that case, the defendant pulled away and screamed while being handcuffed; the officer tackled him and used a taser. The tackle alone was enough.
The practical effect in Philadelphia courtrooms is real. Marginal cases that would have been dismissed five years ago now survive. Prosecutors know it, and they charge accordingly.
Cause #3: It’s an Add-On Charge with a Purpose
Resisting arrest is rarely the reason you were stopped. It gets added after the fact, and it does three jobs for the Commonwealth at once.
It gives prosecutors leverage. A second charge means a second thing to trade away in negotiations, which makes pleading to the original offense feel like a win. It shapes the narrative before a judge hears a word of testimony — you’re no longer someone who was arrested, you’re someone who fought. And it can preemptively justify an officer’s use of force, which matters enormously if you were injured during the arrest.
Cause #4: Your Body Reacted Before Your Brain Did
Being grabbed triggers a reflex. People tense, twist, or pull back without deciding to. That reflex looks identical to resistance on a body-worn camera.
Separately, Pennsylvania added 18 Pa.C.S. § 5104.2 in September 2022. It makes it an offense to knowingly and intentionally flee on foot from a public servant attempting a lawful arrest or detention — graded as a second-degree misdemeanor when the underlying offense is a felony or misdemeanor, and a summary offense otherwise. Running is now separately chargeable in ways it often wasn’t before.
How to Tell Whether Your Case Is Weak or Serious
Pull out your criminal complaint and look for four things.
Which variant did they charge? If the affidavit describes injury or risk of injury to an officer, that’s the first variant. If it only describes officers struggling to cuff you, that’s the substantial-force variant — a different fight entirely.
What was the original arrest for? This is the most important question on the page. If the underlying arrest lacked probable cause, the resisting charge is in serious trouble.
Is there body-worn camera footage? Philadelphia police wear cameras. Footage either supports the officer’s written narrative or contradicts it, and those two outcomes point toward completely different strategies.
Were you injured? Photograph everything and get medical records immediately. Injuries can point toward excessive force — and toward a civil rights claim.
Call an attorney immediately if: you were hurt during the arrest, you were charged with aggravated assault alongside resisting, or you have a professional license, immigration status, or job that a conviction would threaten.
Solution: How Resisting Arrest Charges Get Defeated
Do These Things Right Now
Stop talking about the case — to police, to friends, to anyone but your lawyer. Post nothing on social media. Write down everything you remember while it’s fresh: time, location, officer descriptions, who was watching. Photograph every injury. Identify anyone who recorded video, because private footage disappears fast.
Attack the Lawfulness of the Arrest
This is the strongest defense in the statute and most people never hear about it.
Section 5104 requires a lawful arrest. A valid resisting arrest charge therefore requires an underlying lawful arrest, which requires the arresting officer to have had probable cause — the rule from Commonwealth v. Biagini. Under Biagini, courts assess lawfulness by looking at whether the conduct supporting the arrest actually constituted the crimes charged, not at whether officers believed in good faith that it did.
No probable cause means no lawful arrest. No lawful arrest means no resisting arrest conviction.
One critical caveat I give every client: Pennsylvania law says force is not justifiable to resist an arrest the person knows is being made by a peace officer, even when that arrest is unlawful. Winning on the resisting charge does not protect you from an assault charge. These are separate battles.
Attack Intent
The Commonwealth must prove you intended to prevent the arrest. An involuntary flinch is not intent. Neither is confusion, panic, a medical condition, a hearing impairment, or not understanding that you were being arrested at all. This element gets far less attention than it deserves.
Attack the “Substantial Force” Element
Crosby made this element fact-dependent, which cuts both ways. Because it now turns on context, the defense gets to litigate that context — how many officers, how long, how large you are relative to them, what the footage actually shows versus what the report claims. Police reports routinely describe as a violent struggle what video shows to be four seconds of confusion.
Use the Civil Rights Angle
This is where my practice is different from most Philadelphia defense firms. I defend criminal cases and I sue police for civil rights violations under Section 1983. The same facts that beat a resisting arrest charge — no probable cause, excessive force, a report that contradicts the video — can become a federal civil rights claim.
I secured a $10 million verdict for a client falsely accused by police. Very few attorneys work both sides of that equation, and it changes how the Commonwealth values your case from the first listing.
Why Philadelphia Defendants Choose DiDonato & Burke
For over 30 years, this firm has defended Philadelphia residents in the courtrooms where these cases are actually decided — from Municipal Court at the Stout Center to the Court of Common Pleas.
I spent more than a decade in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and became one of the youngest prosecutors elevated to the elite homicide unit. I’ve tried over 400 jury trials. I know how resisting arrest charges are drafted, why they’re added, and exactly what the Commonwealth is willing to give up to keep them.
This is an intentionally small firm. You work directly with me — not a junior associate, not a paralegal. When winning matters most, that access matters. Courts recognize and prosecutors respect the way these cases get litigated here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be charged with resisting arrest if I never hit the officer?Yes. Pennsylvania’s statute has two variants, and the second requires only that your resistance justified or required substantial force to overcome. No injury or strike is necessary for a conviction.
What are the penalties for resisting arrest in Pennsylvania?Resisting arrest is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in jail and fines up to $5,000. Those penalties are separate from and additional to the underlying charge you were arrested for.
Is resisting an unlawful arrest still a crime in Pennsylvania? Section 5104 requires a lawful arrest, so an arrest without probable cause defeats the resisting charge under Biagini. However, Pennsylvania law separately prohibits using force against an officer even during an unlawful arrest.
Does running from police count as resisting arrest?Not necessarily under § 5104, but Pennsylvania added a separate offense in 2022 for evading arrest or detention on foot. Fleeing can be charged under that statute, graded from a summary offense up to a misdemeanor.
How did Commonwealth v. Crosby change these cases?The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the argument that a minor scuffle falls below the statute. Whether force was substantial now depends on the specific circumstances and is decided by the factfinder, making these charges harder to dismiss.
Can a resisting arrest charge be dismissed in Philadelphia?Yes. Charges are regularly dismissed when the underlying arrest lacked probable cause, when body-worn camera footage contradicts the police report, or when the Commonwealth cannot prove you intended to prevent the arrest.
Am I eligible for diversion on a resisting arrest charge?Philadelphia’s Accelerated Misdemeanor Program handles certain low-level misdemeanors, but it generally targets non-violent offenses and admission is at the District Attorney’s discretion. Eligibility depends entirely on the facts and your record.
How much does a resisting arrest attorney in Philadelphia cost?Fees vary based on complexity, whether related felony charges exist, and whether the case goes to trial. We discuss fees openly during a free consultation, before you commit to anything.
Next Steps
- Resisting arrest requires no injury and no punch thrown
- The lawfulness of your original arrest is the strongest defense available
- Crosby narrowed the defenses that used to work — strategy matters more now
- Body-worn camera footage should be preserved immediately
If you’re facing resisting arrest charges in Philadelphia, call (215) 567-1248 for a free consultation. We’re at Two Penn Center, open Monday through Friday, 8AM to 8PM, with weekend appointments available. You’ll speak with an attorney about what actually happened and what your options are — no pressure, no obligation.
About the Author
Thomas F. Burke, Esquire is a former Philadelphia homicide prosecutor and managing partner at DiDonato & Burke Law Firm. During his 10+ years in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Burke tried over 400 jury trials and became one of the youngest prosecutors in the elite homicide unit. He now defends clients across Philadelphia facing charges from misdemeanors to murder, and secured a $10 million civil rights verdict for a client falsely accused by police. Contact at (215) 567-1248.
This content provides general information about Pennsylvania criminal law and is not legal advice. Every case is unique and requires individual analysis. For specific legal advice about your situation, contact DiDonato & Burke Law Firm at (215) 567-1248 to schedule a free consultation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
