Man Sentenced to 1 ½ Years for Being Felon in Possession of Firearm, Reckless Handling After Throwing Loaded Gun Up in Air During Arrest

NORFOLK, Va. — David Lawrence Lyons, 24, was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 21, to serve one and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to recklessly handling that firearm when he tried to flee from police last year.

At about 11:25 p.m. on July 19, 2024, Norfolk Police patrol officers saw Mr. Lyons riding a bike a high rate of speed and without a bike light in the wrong direction of traffic on Fremont Street. Following in their patrol car, the officers asked Mr. Lyons to stop several times, but Mr. Lyons continued to pick up speed and turn onto other streets to avoid the officers. The officers got out of their car and chased Mr. Lyons on foot, and Mr. Lyons fell off his bike but got up and started to run off. When the officers got closer to Mr. Lyons, Mr. Lyons stopped running, pulled out a concealed firearm from his waistband, and threw it up in the air. Mr. Lyons resisted the officers by trying to fight them off when they placed him under arrest. The firearm — which was loaded and had a round of ammunition in the chamber — landed in the middle of the street but did not harm anyone. Mr. Lyons is a previously convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Officers charged Mr. Lyons with being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, reckless handling of a firearm, resisting arrest by force, and riding a bicycle without the required safety reflectors. On Jan. 21, Mr. Lyons entered an agreement to plead guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to reckless handling of a firearm and serve one year and six months in prison. The agreement called for another one year and six months in prison to be suspended on the conditions that Mr. Lyons be of uniform good behavior for three years and complete an indeterminate period of supervised probation following his release. Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted Mr. Lyons’ plea agreement and sentenced him per the agreement.

“The police first noticed Mr. Lyons for endangering himself on a bicycle at night, and Mr. Lyons escalated the situation by fleeing and by throwing a loaded gun that it was illegal for him to have,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “There is no place for illegal firearms on our streets, and we will continue to prosecute and hold accountable people who possess illegal weapons.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Chandler W. Holcomb prosecuted Mr. Lyons’ case, and Norfolk Police Officer Cameron R. Harrell led the investigation.

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