Appeals court backs cop on detaining teen

The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a judge’s ruling that Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson lacked grounds to detain a teenage gang member who allegedly was carrying a stolen pistol.

Reversing Superior Court Judge Neal Rielly, the appellate court said Thompson needed only a “reasonable, articulable suspicion,” not “actual knowledge of a crime” to stop and search Aaron A. Maxwell in July 2005.

Maxwell, 17, was charged in Juvenile Court with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and with possession of a stolen firearm when Thompson allegedly found a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol in his waistband.

Court documents say Thompson had been warned to be on the lookout for retaliation in connection with a large gang fight the previous evening, in which one gang member was stabbed near a rival gang member’s home.

Thompson was patrolling in the area of the fight when he saw Maxwell and other known Crips gang members congregating, according to court records. Thompson reportedly ordered members of the group to keep their hands visible while he waited for backup.

Officer Kevin Vaughn, who knew Maxwell from previous contacts, was preparing to give Maxwell a pat-down search when Thompson asked whether anyone in the group was armed, “because we’re going to search you.”

At that point, Maxwell allegedly admitted he had a gun, and Vaughn disarmed him.

The appellate judges cited an earlier Appeals Court decision that said, “Citizens of this state expect police officers to do more than react to crimes that have already occurred.”

Thompson is the officer who initiated a March 18 contact with Otto Zehm, who died of what Medical Examiner Sally Aiken said was lack of oxygen to the brain due to heart failure while he was restrained on his stomach.

The conduct of Thompson and other officers remains under investigation in the Zehm case.