Is Taking a Deadly Weapon From a Police Officer Robbery in the First Degree in New York ?

In People v. Williams, 63 A.D.2d 1035, 406 N.Y.S.2d 341 [1978], the defendant and another were stopped by a police officer in their vehicle. The defendant fled and the officer gave chase. A struggle ensued. During the struggle the defendant removed the officer's gun from his holster. The defendant then fled. The indictment charged defendant with robbery in the first degree in that he forcibly stole property, the weapon, and in the immediate flight therefrom he was armed with a deadly weapon, that is, the weapon he took from the officer. In dismissing the charge, the Court in Williams held that "the fact that the stolen property is a deadly weapon does not in and of itself convert the robbery into a robbery in the first degree, i.e., robbery while armed with a deadly weapon." (Williams, 63 A.D.2d 1035, 1035 (1978), supra; Penal Law 160.15 2)