Evansville Domestic Abuser Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Federal Prison After Leading Police on a Foot Chase while Illegally Possessing a Firearm

EVANSVILLE- Arties Dushawn Brown., 35, of Evansville, Indiana, has been sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to court documents, on April 2, 2023, Evansville Police officers were called to a residential area in response to a report of shots being fired. The 911 caller claimed that a man wearing a black jacket, white hat, white shoes, and a camouflage jacket was walking down the street and fired a gun into the air. When officers arrived on scene, they found a spent shell casing at the same location the caller claimed the shot was fired from.

Officers located Arties Brown wearing the same clothes as the reported shooter and with a black firearm hanging out of his pants pocket. Officers ordered Brown to show his hands. Instead, Brown disregarded the orders and fled through an outdoor apartment hallway. Brown tossed the firearm away, jumped a residential fence, entered a backyard and approached the homeowner while repeating "change of clothes." The homeowner gave Brown a change of clothes.

After a short time, officers located and arrested Brown wearing the new change of clothes. The firearm Brown threw was found lying in a neighbor's backyard and was still loaded.

At the time of this arrest, Brown had sustained multiple felony convictions, including three separate counts of burglary and battery by means of a deadly weapon, as well as a misdemeanor conviction for domestic battery. These convictions prohibit Brown from ever legally possessing a firearm again.

"Illegally armed domestic abusers pose a significant danger to everyone close to them, our law enforcement officers, and our communities as a whole," said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. "That's why we have prioritized federal prosecution of illegally armed individuals with a history of domestic violence. Our office will continue to partner with the ATF and local task forces in Evansville and all across our district to ensure that the most dangerous armed offenders are taken off our streets."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Evansville Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Matthew P. Brookman.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as part of the LEATH Initiative (Law Enforcement Action to Halt Domestic Violence), named in honor of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Officer Breann Leath, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance call. A partnership among the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the IMPD, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the LEATH Initiative focuses federal, state, and local law enforcement resources on domestic violence offenders who illegally possess firearms.