Gun owners fear Maryland cops target them for traffic stops. Stories pile up but police say searches are legal.
By Kelly Riddell – The Washington Times
Maryland – -(Ammoland.com)- A year ago this New Year’s Eve, John Filippidis of Florida was driving south with his family on Interstate 95 when the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled over his black Ford Expedition and proceeded to raid it while his twins, wife and daughter looked on — separated in the back seats of different police cruisers.
The officers were searching for Mr. Filippidis‘ Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun, which he left at home locked in his safe. (Maryland does not recognize handgun permits issued by other states.)
When the search turned up nothing, Mr. Filippidis, 51, was allowed to go and was issued only a speeding warning.
The incident gained national attention. Mr. Filippidis went on multiple radio programs and described in detail how scared and outraged he and his family were. He wondered: How did the police know he was licensed for concealed carry, and what right did they have to search through his personal items on the side of the busy interstate filled with holiday travelers on that 10-degree day?
“My wife’s hysterical, shaking and crying,” Mr. Filippidis recalled in an interview with The Washington Times. “I don’t have a criminal record. I own a business. I’m a family man, and I tried to explain that to [the officer]. But he had a bad attitude, didn’t want to hear my story. He just wanted to find that gun and take me away from my family. That was his goal, but he couldn’t do it, because I didn’t have a gun, like I told him.”
Mr. Filippidis‘ case earned the support of Second Amendment advocates and subsequent apologies from the MDTA. But an internal police review concluded his stop and search were lawful and did not violate police protocols.
Those findings, however, have not satisfied other out-of-state gun owners, who worry that they, too, have been targeted for minor traffic stops in Maryland because they have concealed weapons permits. Their stories are accumulating.
John Tonnesen IV of Lake Worth, Florida, was pulled over and arrested after a search of his work truck — by the same officer who stopped Mr. Filippidis — turned up his .45-caliber Ruger, licensed in the state of Florida. He doesn’t believe the stop was coincidental.
“It was unloaded and stuffed into a bag far from me,” Mr. Tonnesen told The Times. “There’s scanners in Maryland that scan every tag, and Florida is one of their target vehicles. They’ll find whatever reason they can to pull you over.”
MDTA denies it targets out-of-state gun owners and noted the review of Mr. Fillipides earlier traffic stop concluded the officers did nothing wrong.
“The MDTA Police conducted a review of the traffic stop and have concluded that the stop and subsequent search of the vehicle were justified,” spokesman Jonathan Green wrote in an emailed statement. “The investigation did not reveal any violations of law or agency policy.”
The officer who stopped both gun owners is “assigned to the I-95 corridor where there is a large volume of out of state travelers,” Mr. Green said.
Baltimore-based criminal defense lawyer Paul Kramer says these type of stops and searches happen far too often in Maryland and are a waste of taxpayer money. Mr. Kramer represented a Pennsylvania security officer who was pulled over in the state for speeding. The Maryland officer asked Mr. Kramer’s client whether he had a gun in the car, and once the man acknowledged he did, the officer arrested him for having the gun and the cartridge in the same locked container — not separated, as per Maryland law.
“You think that Maryland would honor legitimate people with guns rather than charging people who are legitimately carrying but doing it incorrectly,” said Mr. Kramer, who was former deputy U.S. attorney for Maryland. “I would think that the police would want to take the time to go after those people who don’t have a legitimate right to have a gun rather than locking up people who have a valid license.
“An otherwise law-abiding citizen can get arrested here. It’s just a waste of officer time and resources. The police should let those people go,” he said.
It is easier for these cops to go after the freebees (The lawful gun owners and the ones that they assume won’t kill them due to having jumped through the hoops to get a CCW in their home state) then the thugs that are more of a threat to them or others. If you are pulled over and have a CCW from another state chances are you are on the up and up and aren’t a threat, Joe copper needs to make contacts with the public and appease the higher up/bean counters and an arrest with a gun charge is… Read more »
And you wonder why registration is a bad idea? They looked up that he had a gun registered to him and tossed his truck to try to find it. I grew up in MD but I don’t live there now and I can’t imagine I ever will again. Choose freedom, choose a different state.
It illegal to even carry pepper spray in Maryland. Total police state.
I live in MD and just took the course for my non resident Fl and other for other states as well. Fl is the only state that puts this info in the system for MD and other states police to see. Utah does not do it, start there. Since I have MD tags on my car as well. I am wondering now if I should applied for the Fl permit. This ought to be Interesting. I will let you all know if it is approved, sounds like this will happen to me. I have no points and only have been… Read more »
On the day of my mother’s death a niece went to the TSA telling them the next day I would carry a weapon on a flight. The following day I was taken into custody escorted from the security checkin line. Then four hours later prevented from boarding my flight. I had a secured and declared handgun in my check in lugage. I had flown to my mother’s death bed and been with her alone through the ordeal. A chilling ordeal I could have been shot or arrested. I had no idea for the security and harassment until a freedom of… Read more »
While I believe that 95% of Police officers would join us and fight beside us in any attempts to revoke the 2nd amendment there are sadly officers who seem to feel that law abiding firearm owners are NOT their friends and don’t want law abiding firearm owners to have their backs if they are in a bad situation and a CCW holder could provide help. I would not wish anything bad for any officer or their families, but for the officers that hassle law abiding Americans and treat them like criminals instead of spending their precious patrol time arresting real… Read more »