United States v. Thompson, 2025 WL 1108499 (10th Cir. 2025)
In the past I’ve often said to my officers, “We’ve caught the dumb ones — now go out and catch the smart ones.” I acknowledge that may not be very nice, and in my sporadic efforts to be a better human, I try to avoid repeating it. I’ve also often commented that there is always at least one gun present in every police contact. Brandon Keith Thompson provides evidence of that, reminding us that we do indeed tend to catch the dumb ones. I’ve been watching this case since I first heard about the incident from some of my officers.
Brandon Thompson walked into an AT&T store in Sandy, Utah, not far from where I live. After seeing Thompson “messing” with an area where Apple watches were on display, store employees noted one watch was missing. One of the employees tripped a silent alarm notifying police and then confronted Thompson. Two very fine officers, Officer Johnson and Officer Nystrom, arrived and asked Thompson to consent to a pat-down. He agreed, but then suddenly bolted from the store. Both officers followed. The brief pursuit and struggle was captured on Officer Nystrom’s body-worn camera.
Thompson tripped and fell, and Officer Johnson got on top of him and tried to handcuff him. Seeing the fracas, a retired New York Police Department officer ran over to assist. During the scuffle, Thompson managed to grab Officer Johnson’s holstered Glock 17, reach the trigger and fire a round. (Luckily, no one was hit.) The officer applied his TASER device and Thompson was subdued and handcuffed.
Based on his brief — but potentially deadly — possession of Officer Johnson’s Glock, Thompson (a convicted felon) was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 110 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Thompson appealed, claiming the jury should have been instructed that the prosecution had to show he had “actual, exclusive” possession of the gun he fired. The appellate court held there was sufficient evidence to show Thompson had actual possession of the firearm, given the video evidence and witness testimonies, including that of the retired, but still brave, NYPD officer.
