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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070805/NEWS/708050581
Officers are sued over gun arrest
North Port man wants statute on concealed weapons to be clarified
By HEATHER ALLEN
[email protected]
NORTH PORT -- He was pulled over for a speeding infraction -- traveling 21 mph over the speed limit -- but a lead foot is not what got Jeffrey Poulakis in trouble.
It was the gun in his car's glove compartment.
He was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm, but the charge did not go far.
Prosecutors declined to prosecute the case, citing case law that says a gun owner does not need a concealed weapons permit in order to carry a firearm in a vehicle.
And now, Poulakis is suing two North Port police officers, claiming that they violated his constitutional rights by arresting him on the weapons charge.
The federal lawsuit, which was filed in July, will ask the courts to decipher and clarify the ambiguous state statute that governs carrying concealed weapons in the state of Florida.
The head of the state's licensing division said the statute is not clear and only gives "hints" on how to interpret it.
"It's going to be an individual police officer's call," said W.H. "Buddy" Bevis, director of the state Division of Licensing.
On Nov. 21, 2006, officer Michael Rogers pulled Poulakis over for speeding. As Rogers approached the Jeep, he noticed Poulakis leaning over to his right "either concealing or retrieving something from under one of the seats or glove box" according to the police report.
In the report, Rogers writes that he and Sgt. Eric Stender were fearful that Poulakis may have reached for a gun, so they asked him to step out of the vehicle.
In the process, Poulakis would not make eye contact and admitted to placing a beer can under his seat, the report said. Rogers then searched the Jeep and, according to the report, Poulakis "reluctantly" told Rogers that there was a handgun inside in the center console.
Rogers and Stender retrieved the .357 caliber pistol and arrested Poulakis for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. His permit, according to the report, had expired on June, 13, 2004.
The law which the officers believe Poulakis broke says that anyone who carries a concealed weapon "on or about his or her person" has committed a crime.
But, according to Bevis, a concealed weapons permit is only needed if an individual intends to carry the gun on them. A permit is not necessary to keep it in a car's console or glove box.
"As long as you're not waving it, flashing it at people, and not a felon or something like that -- or drunk -- then just kind of leave it alone," Bevis said. "Your personal vehicle is an extension of your home by law."
In explaining why they dropped the charge, prosecutors cited the 2002 appellate court decision in Dixon v. State. In that case, the court ruled that as long as a gun is in a glove compartment, gun case, snapped in a holster or closed in a box with a lid, then its owner is not required to have a concealed weapons permit.
"So they arrest this guy for something that's not against the law," said Y. Drake Buckman, Poulakis' attorney. "It's just one of those things where the police didn't know the law and my client paid the price."
North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis says that even though the charges were dropped, the arrest was still justified.
And although Lewis would not comment on the specifics of the case, he said that rulings on the definition of a concealed weapon can vary.
In the end, he said, it all comes down to the judgment of the law enforcement officer and whether the officer believes there is enough probable cause to make an arrest.
"There's nothing that stands the hair up on a police officer more than a firearm," Lewis said. "In those cases, it's a judgment call."
