Jerry Brice of Phoenix has spent half of his life in prison.
Lately, he hasn't been trying too hard to stay out.
The ex-con was found last week in a Phoenix apartment complex parking lot allegedly threatening someone with a semi-automatic he shouldn't have had.
After a 1993 conviction for attempted murder, Brice was out for a year before committing an armed robbery in 2001. He served a five-year sentence for that crime, then failed to check in with his probation officer and was thrown back in prison for another five years.
Released again in July of 2011, it was only three months before his
next arrest for resisting arrest -- which occurred while police sought him for another parole violation. He's been free on bond pending a trial
for that incident.
Then, last Wednesday afternoon, three plainclothes Phoenix police
officer ran into Brice while checking out an unrelated shooting at 2501
West Ocotillio Road.
As the officers came up to a car, they saw a man -- later identified as
the 36-year-old Brice -- standing next to the car talking to the three
dudes inside. "You better get me my shit or we are going to take this to
the next level," Daniel Moncrief, a Phoenix cop who works with the U.S.
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bureau, heard Brice say to
one of the car's passengers.
To punctuate his remark, the man reached into his left front pocket,
took out a black handgun and began to raise it, police say. Moncrief
yelled at Brice to drop the weapon, at which point Brice took off
running, throwing the gun under a parked car.
Brice later claimed the gun, a Sig Sauer 9mm, wasn't his.
Police are seeking federal charges on Brice for illegally possessing a firearm.
