A Minneapolis man has been charged with illegally possessing a loaded handgun after Richfield Police say they found him lurking behind a building on 3rd Avenue South.
Isiah Lee Harper, 23, is charged with carrying a weapon without a permit, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He is also charged with giving false information to police, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to the 6700 block of 3rd Avenue South on Sept. 17 on a report of a suspicious person.
When they arrived, police spotted a man who matched the description given by the caller, and called him over to the squad car. The man, later identified as Harper, walked toward them holding a cell phone in his right hand and reportedly told officers he was lost.
According to the complaint, Harper tried to shove the phone into an officer’s face. The officer grabbed the phone, gave it to another officer and then grabbed Harper and tried to put his right hand behind his back.
Harper then fled on foot clutching something in his right fist, the complaint says. Police chased him, and after a short pursuit, Harper slipped and fell on a patch of grass, where he was handcuffed.
Harper told officers that his name was Porter Lee Webb, and gave them a birthdate in 1969. He later admitted giving officers his brother’s name and birthdate because he had an outstanding warrant in Hennepin County, according to the complaint.
Police found a loaded handgun along the route that Harper used when he fled. Harper initially denied ownership of the gun, telling police that he had slipped on it, but later admitted that it was his gun and he had dropped it while running away, according to the complaint.
Harper remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $20,000 bond. He is also being held on a felony warrant from Minneapolis charging him with domestic assault. An omnibus hearing in his latest case is scheduled Oct. 17 in Hennepin County District Court.
Sure, it's not his gun. This guy's living proof that, short of sending a military force throughout our country house to house to force-disarm the people, crooks (even incredibly incompetent ones) will get guns when they want them. Oh, but wait, we did house to house disarmament in Iraq and bad guys still got guns anyway... Has outstanding warrants, and he has a conviction record - including for carrying a gun illegally once before: 10/12/07: Carrying a pistol without a permit (Gross Misdemeanor conviction) Served 29 days w/2 yr probation 5/27/09: Domestic Assault (Misdemeanor) Served no time. Fined $128 incl fees 7/23/09: Domestic Assault (Gross Misdemeanor) Served 120 days 5/3/10: Underage liquor and giving a false name (Misdemeanor) Served less than 30 days 2/15/11: Fighting/brawling (Misdemeanor) Fined $100 incl fees 7/15/11: Participating in a disorderly house (I don't think that's like "my pile of laundry" kind of "disorderly house") (Petty Misdemeanor) Fined $79 incl fees 11/29/11: Domestic Assault (FELONY) Served less than 60 days. Now it looks like he couldn't make it a year without doing something stupid! "Prison ain’t changed (&*^$, homeboy. You understand that?" -T.I.