Posted: 4/26/2006 6:55:43 PM EDT
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A Yellow Cab driver who was about to be ripped off by a patron ended up being cited by deputies for illegally carrying a weapon. Champaign County Sheriff’s Lt. Ed Ogle said John Sayles, 33, who listed an address in the 0-100 block of **** Drive, Urbana, had picked up Nathan Collins, 19, who listed an address in the 3300 block of Pine Circle, Urbana, about 2:30 this morning at Florida and Ogelthorpe avenues in Urbana. Collins told Sayles to take him to Philo. When Sayles got to the 200 block of East Jefferson in Ph8ilo, Collins instructed him to stop, then got out of the cab and ran without paying the $25 fare. Sayles called sheriff’s deputies for help then went after Collins who had run into a back yard in that block. Ogle said as deputies arrived, Collins and Sayles were coming back toward the cab. Sayles volunteered to the deputies that he was armed and had a small gun and ammunition for it in a fanny pack he was wearing. Ogle said Sayles never produced the weapon but apparently warned Collins he had it in order to get him to stop. Sayles was given a notice to appear in court on May 11 for unlawful use of weapons and Collins was taken to the county jail for theft of services. He was released after posting $120 bond. It is illegal to carry a gun on your person or have it accessible in a vehicle. Had Sayles been inside a business working and produced the gun if he felt threatened, that would have been legal, Ogle said. Sheriff Ogle is wrong! Mr. Sayles followed the law, unloaded firearm with loaded magizine in the case with FOID card. And Mr. Sayles firearm should be returned A.S.A.P. Please contact States Attorney Rietz and urge her to throw out these charges. Julia Rietz Champaign County States Attorney Phone 217-384-3733 Fax 217-384-3816 email [email protected] IllinoisCarry.com |
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Email sent... The entire Illinois community is disgusted with your charging of Mr. Sayles. It is perfectly legal to have a firearm in your vehicle as long as it is unloaded, enclosed in a case, and carried by someone with a valid Illinois FOID card. We ask that you drop these charges immediately. We are the firearm owners of Illinois and we are tired of being treated like criminals. |
It is most unfortunate some scumbag tried to rip off a poor cab driver. I hope they let him slide on the charges. Unfortunately, if Mr. Sayles was wearing the fanny pack carrying a handgun and ammunition, it was considered a holster. Before you blow up at what I am saying, consult at least 2 State's Attorneys outside of the county where the incident occurred and the Illinois Attorney General's Office for their opinions. I am sure they will all tell you Mr. Sayles committed UUW. If you want to help people like Mr. Sayles out, campaign for concealed carry legislation! 
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Where in Illinois? Name the citation. Back in 2000 there were several groups that claimed the Safe Neighborhoods Act permitted them to carry a firearm in a fanny pack. The legislature addressed the issue. Not only does a person need to review the Public Act, but they also need to review the documents related to legislative intent. State's Attorneys in central Illinois will charge you with UUW if you are caught with a firearm in a fanny pack and you are wearing the fanny pack. I would venture to guess that the Peoples Republic of Cook County would be more aggressive in prosecuting a case than a downstate prosecutor. On the other hand, if it is not strapped to your person, then you could get away with saying it was a case. I would love to get copies of cases where the Illinois Appellate Court or Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the gun owner wearing a fanny pack. Please give me the names of the cases, case numbers and anything else you have, so I can obtain paper copies from a law library. Thanks...
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You can read about it here... www.concealcarry.org/carrylegal.htm |
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I read the 1997 case to which you are referring. She had an unloaded firearm in a case, which was inside her purse. She was not wearing a fanny pack and I could not find any reference to an Appellate Court or Supreme Court decision concerning the wearing of a fanny pack. I did not see anything on the website about the opinion of the Illinois Attorney General concerning the fanny pack being a holster. That opinion was rendered after John Birch sent a letter to the Director of the Illinois State Police stating the John Birch's interpretation of the law was that a fanny pack was a legal form of carry. The Attorney General did not agree and the local State's Attorneys will almost always follow the Attorney General's opinion. I definitely can see the point of view of the concealed carry and firearms rights organizations. Being armed would be a good deterent to being the victim of a violent crime. When it gets easier for Mr. Dirtbag to get a job than pull an armed robbery, the world will be a better place. If you can find anything on the wearing of a fanny pack being legal in case law, I would love to see it. I had already viewed the website to which you made reference and found no current case law pertaining specifically to the fanny pack. The West Law sites pertaining to Unlawful Use of Weapons were dated 1994. Please type the current case law on this thread so everyone can see it. I am having no luck finding anything. Thanks! |
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I only provided the available info on fanny pack carry. The info I provided is from where the people base their interpretation of the law. I have six very good friends that are police officers from 4 different jurisdictions, and I asked them what they thought about fanny pack carry. All of them told me that their job is to enforce the law and not try and interpret the law. They all said they would most likely arrest the person and let the judge interpret the law. It is also my understanding that of all the people that have been arrested for fanny pack carry in the state, every case has been dropped by the state before it went to court. Do not confuse John Birch of Concealed Carry, Inc, with the John Birch Society. The John Birch Society was started in the late 1950's by a guy named Robert Welch. John Birch lives in Oak Brook and has fought for pro-gun rights in Illinois. I do what I need to do to protect myself. I don't rely on fanny packs, edicts from King Daley, or gun bans from Blago. 
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Are the police departments up north? The closer you get to Chicago, the less discretion officers have when making decisions about an arrest. Unfortunately, Mr. Sayles has some trying times ahead of him. I would like to see the charges dismissed, but in today's world that is less likely than 20 years ago. |
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The police report says that Sayles had the gun out when he was chasing Collins. We had the info from the news report and I talked to John Sayles myself. Sadly Mr. Sayles told me a different story. And the Newspaper report was wrong. So Mr. Sayles hurt himself because now we are emailing the SA urging her to drop the charges. Us emailing cant be good for him. And that makes us look bad. I think we should email the States Attorney and call and tell them we are sorry for bothering them about this case. We had bad info. IllinoisCarry.com |
So he drew his pistol when he was chasing the scumbag that ripped him off? If he did not have legal justification to present the pistol and imply he was willing to use deadly force, that puts a different light on the situation. If that's the case and you apologize to the State's Attorney for intervening without knowing the unfavorable details, hopefully the State's Attorney will be understanding and respect you for being a stand up guy. Don't forget him/her at election time either. In this day and age, people don't speak up when the State's Attorney does something good, just when they do something with which they do not agree. People in general do not admit when they are wrong; a good man does. A man who owns up to his word has a great deal of my respect. Stay safe and keep up the good fight!
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