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Placing Defendant in the Back of a Patrol Car Did Not Constitute De Facto Arrest

In affirming the conviction, the Fourth Department noted that placing the defendant in the back seat of a patrol car did not, under the circumstances, amount to a de facto arrest. Rather “the temporary detention of defendant was proper as ‘part of a continuum of permissible police intrusions in response to escalating evidence of criminal activity’ ;”

We conclude that “the police action fell short of the level of intrusion upon defendant’s liberty and privacy that constitutes an arrest” … . Here, the brief investigative detention of defendant by the police was “justified by reasonable suspicion that a crime [had] been, [was] being or [was] about to be committed” …, i.e., “that quantum of knowledge sufficient to induce an ordinarily prudent and cautious [person] under the circumstances to believe criminal activity is at hand” … . Indeed, after the man with defendant displayed the contents of the duffel bag, the officer had reasonable suspicion that defendant and the other man had committed a crime. The established circumstances at that point were that the officer had received a report that suspicious individuals carrying bags had gone behind a residence in an area where burglaries targeting copper pipe had previously occurred; the officer observed two men matching the description coming down a driveway carrying bags; the two men admitted that they were walking around looking for copper plumbing; and the contents of the duffel bag revealed their actual possession of numerous copper pipes of various sizes with no indication of other scrap metals. Under these circumstances, we conclude that the temporary detention of defendant was proper as “part of a continuum of permissible police intrusions in response to escalating evidence of criminal activity” … . Here, “the police diligently pursued a minimally intrusive means of investigation likely to confirm or dispel suspicion quickly, during which time it was necessary to detain the defendant” … , and “a less intrusive means of fulfilling the police investigation was not readily apparent” … . People v Howard, 2015 NY Slip Op 05350, 4th Dept 6-19-15

 

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