PORTLAND — A Lewiston man stopped by police in May for a defective windshield is accused of being a felon with a gun.
Authorities said the car Steven Walker, 34, was driving may have been involved in a shootout the night before.
Walker appeared via videoconference Tuesday in U.S. District Court where a judge postponed a decision on whether there is probable cause to revoke his release for violating conditions of his probation and charge him with the new crime of being a felon with a gun. The judge also delayed a decision on whether Walker should be allowed bail on the new charge.
If convicted of the Class C felony, Walker faces up to 10 years in prison.
According to an FBI task officer’s affidavit, Walker was driving his gray Ford Fusion sedan in Portland on May 22 when he was pulled over by police for having a “shattered” windshield.
The officer noticed what appeared to be a recent bullet hole in the roof of the car.
The night before, a shooting was reported in the city that involved two parties exchanging fire in and around their vehicles. Witnesses said they saw a gray Ford sedan fleeing the scene, according to the affidavit.
Walker was on federal probation for drug charges. Police searched him, finding cocaine residue on a scale, more than $2,700 in cash, a small amount of marijuana and an empty handgun magazine.
Asked about the magazine’s corresponding gun, Walker said, “What gun?” He said he didn’t know what the officer was talking about.
In searching Walker’s car, police found a backpack with a pink 9 mm ProMag Ruger handgun with an attached empty magazine, similar to the one found in his pocket.
The gun and magazines were reported stolen from a home safe in May during a break-in, according to the affidavit. The gun owner said one of the magazines had been fully loaded and the other, partially loaded, at the time the gun was stolen.
Walker has two federal criminal convictions for heroin possession, for which he was sentenced in 2017, making him a convicted felon who was on supervised release at the time of the traffic stop. Walker was charged in May with being a felon with a gun.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan Connelly on Tuesday cited phone calls between Walker and his girlfriend as evidence supporting probable cause to believe he violated the terms of his probation.
Defense attorney Dylan Boyd explained that Walker had been compelled to disarm his girlfriend of the Ruger a day earlier after she fired a shot that struck his car. Boyd said Walker had given the handgun to a passenger in the back seat of his car at the time of the traffic stop. Boyd said it was that passenger who had zipped the gun into his backpack that was found by police in the back of Walker’s car.
Boyd said his argument supporting Walker’s narrative explaining how his car ended up with a bullet hole and the reason for his having temporary possession of the handgun only for self-defense is corroborated by the recorded jail calls between him and his girlfriend and is consistent with other evidence in the case.
Boyd said his client’s possession of the handgun was not a violation of his probation because he was justified in having it in his possession briefly for the purposes of necessity and self-defense.
The case is expected to be heard in court again in mid-October.
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