On April 9, 1996, the Topeka Police Department received a report of a

suspicious man lingering outside a Conoco station, apparently counting

customers. Officer Patrick McLaughlin was dispatched to the scene. He did not

observe the suspect but was approached by an individual who said he had

observed a man who matched the reported man’s description running away from

the area. This witness stated that the man appeared to have a weapon tucked in

his waistband. Officer McLaughlin then received a radio report that another

police unit had spotted the subject and was in pursuit. As he drove toward the

reported location, he received a report that shots had been fired. After pursuing

the individual on foot and in their vehicles along Interstate 70 and through a

residential area, officers finally apprehended the suspect, defendant Robert

Wayne Redmond. Thethe area of the

Conoco station had reported to Officer McLaughlin that the defendant appeared to

have a weapon, and one of the officers participating in the chase reported hearing

shots fired while he was pursuing the defendant, but the officers did not find a

weapon when they searched the defendant. Furthermore, the surrounding

circumstances demonstrated that the unretrieved weapon posed an immediate

danger to the public. The areas surrounding the path of the chase included a

residential area and a heavily traveled interstate highway. In addition, Officer

McLaughlin had observed juveniles near the chase route. Under the totality of


                                    