Yes he was a felon. A felon out on parole, no less, with several court cases against him pending. He may have been out on bond pending those upcoming court cases, as well.
Last night a bail bondsman in Baltimore said he bailed Freddie out 3 times. Perhaps Freddie was going for the full monty and trying to hurt himself so he could get a nice juicy lawsuit and payout from the big bad police? Notice how his arrest was recorded from the get-go..