U.S. v. Shields

In prosecution on charge of unlawful possession of firearm by felon, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress gun seized from defendant at time of arrest, where defendant had been initially stopped by police on suspicion of having parked illegally in crosswalk, and where defendant, during time police had possession of his license, suddenly fled scene on foot, only to be apprehended with gun located at scene of defendant’s arrest. While defendant argued that he was free to leave police after their initial encounter, Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant was seized at time police confronted him about traffic violation, and that police had reasonable suspicion at that time to believe that defendant had broken traffic law. Moreover, when defendant fled scene, police had probable to arrest him on charge of interference with performance of their duty and had probable cause to arrest him on unlawful carrying of firearm charge once police officer had observed defendant remove gun from his pocket during foot chase. Also, gun was subject to seizure incident to defendant’s arrest after foot chase.