Opinion ID: 735453
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kirsch

Text: 14 After being red-lighted by the INS, Kirsch stopped the van and fled on foot across three lanes of traffic on a busy thoroughfare. The district court held that Kirsch recklessly created a substantial risk to motorists (but not to the pursuing officers) after finding that: (1) it was nighttime; (2) the speed limit on the roadway was 35 or 40 mph; (3) there was medium to heavy traffic; and (4) Kirsch took off into traffic, diagonally moving from south to north across several lanes of traffic. Kirsch's conduct was not simply instinctive flight, but contained an additional element that brings it within section 3C1.2. 15 By fleeing across several lanes of busy traffic, Kirsch recklessly created a substantial risk to the motoring public. Motorists in the area, surprised by the commotion, could have swerved and braked to avoid the fleeing Kirsch, resulting in a substantial risk of collisions and injury. The district court's finding that running in traffic under these circumstances recklessly created a substantial risk is certainly plausible and does not leave this court with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. Concrete Pipe & Prods. of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust, 508 U.S. 602, 623, 113 S.Ct. 2264, 2280, 124 L.Ed.2d 539 (1993). 16 We therefore affirm the district court's imposition of a two-level enhancement for reckless endangerment during flight in sentencing Kirsch.