Judge Arthur Spatt
The Garden City police department had received a call arising out of a "road rage" incident involving Burbar who allegedly waived and pointed a gun at a civilian. The police went to Burbar's home, and he produced his handguns as well as a valid pistol license. The weapons were confiscated and an appearance ticket was issued to Burbar charging him with menacing. Later it was discovered that Burbar had a previous criminal history, and the police returned to his home, arrested him, and charged him with five felonies relating to the unlawful possession of firearms. Those charges were subsequently dismissed, and Burbar filed this suit for false arrest, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. Burbar's claims based on false arrest and false imprisonment were dismissed because at the time of his arrest, it was undisputed that Burbar possessed five firearms and had been previously convicted of a crime, thereby creating "arguable probable cause" for his arrest. However, Burbar's malicious prosecution claim survived dismissal because even though probable cause supported the arrest, it did not extend to support the commencement of the criminal proceeding because Burbar was licensed to possess the firearms in question.
