A lake in Fort Collins helped protect Fort Collins police officers from a handgun hidden inside a transient man's backpack on Wednesday morning.


According to the Coloradoan, officers were trying to remove a group of transients from the 1300 block of Blue Spruce Drive near the Food Bank for Larimer County in north Fort Collins. They came in contact with a man who identified himself as Christopher Kane, though he couldn't recall his date of birth.

Police had no idea who this "Christopher Kane" was, and decided to bring him to the jail to figure things out. Then, the man took off running.

Police struggled to hold onto him after catching him the first time; when he broke loose, he ran toward a backpack next to a nearby lake and reached into the bag. Not knowing what was in the bag, officers pushed him into the water.

He was ultimately taken into custody and officers found a handgun in the backpack.

The 33-year-old man, whose real name turned out to be Robert Tamlin, is a convicted felon wanted for a grand theft case in Florida, according to court records.

Tamlin was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a weapon by a previous offender, criminal impersonation, and resisting arrest following the Fort Collins lake scuffle. He is being held without bond pending extradition for the case in Florida.

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