A convicted felon from Kansas City, Missouri, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for illegally carrying a firearm.
Simon L. Smith, 29, is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a class C felony. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Smith was arrested following a foot pursuit on June 20 that occurred at the end of a 46-block-long car chase. During the pursuit, Smith tried to ditch a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun, court documents show.
Smith has prior felony convictions for burglary and possessing a weapon at a correctional facility, which prohibits him from legally possessing firearms or ammunition.
Authorities began searching for Smith’s vehicle on June 19 after receiving an alert from Shotspotter, a gunshot detection device that locates gunshots and automatically alerts law enforcement. When officers arrived to the area of the alert, they observed multiple bullet holes in the glass on a corner bus stop, a nearby business and a parked car.
According to a witness on the scene, a Chevy Equinox with three male passengers drove through the parking lot and passed in front of him. The vehicle then circled back around, and one of the occupants got out of the car and opened fire using what was described as a silver handgun.
The victim said several rounds were fired, but he took cover and was uninjured. The shooter then got back into the Equinox, which promptly sped away.
At the scene, officers recovered six spent 9mm casings, as well as two bullet fragments.
The following day, shortly before noon, an officer in an unmarked patrol car observed a Chevy Equinox that matched the description given by the drive-by victim the previous day. The officer followed the vehicle while waiting for fellow officers in marked patrol cars to respond.
The responding officers attempted to pull over the Equinox, which was driven by Smith, but Smith did not stop and instead led police on a chase through the city.
During the chase, authorities deployed deflation devices in Smith’s path, which blew out two of his tires. Smith then fled on foot and during this time, officers observed him tossing the handgun, which was quickly recovered.
Authorities later learned that the weapon carried by Smith was one of two reported stolen from a residential burglary earlier this month.
