People v. Story CA3

BACKGROUND

Late at night, two police officers (Officers Schnetz and Bergenstock) saw a pickup truck driving without a front license plate. They followed the vehicle, but could not read the rear license plate as it was obscured by a trailer hitch. They initiated a vehicle stop. Schnetz approached the driver, later identified as defendant, and Bergenstock approached the passenger. As he looked into the driver’s side window to speak to defendant, Schnetz saw an unsheathed sword sitting on the dashboard within defendant’s grasp. Schnetz reached in, took the sword from the dashboard, and placed it in the bed of the truck. Schnetz then took defendant’s driver’s license and began walking back to the patrol car to conduct a records check. As he walked toward the patrol car, Schnetz saw Bergenstock “draw his firearm” and give “loud, verbal commands to the passenger.” He also heard Bergenstock say there was a shotgun in the truck. Schnetz immediately returned to the driver’s side and opened the door; he saw a shotgun on the driver’s side floorboard “pushed up against the door by the driver’s left foot.” The gun was loaded with one round in the chamber and three in the “tubular magazine.”…